Tourism head of NZ hinted about increase in tax for international visitors

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

It’s been close to a month that New Zealand reopened its borders to visitors who are vaccinated from visa waiver countries, including the U.S., leaders in NZ are thinking over changes that could signify a higher price to pay for tourists.

Stuart Nash, New Zealand Tourism Minister, while giving a speech on Friday in the University of Otago Tourism Policy School, gave an insinuation about a price hike for the fee that visitors from abroad have paid to visit the country since the fall of 2019.

“Our international visitors must contribute their fair share,” said Nash just before making a statement on the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy that charges visitors from most other countries at present with 35 New Zealand dollars.

International visitors usually pay it when they apply for an Electronic Travel Authority, the country’s border security mechanism. Permanent residents are not required to pay just like the visitors from South Pacific islands and, notably, Australia, whose residents represented about 40% of international visitors prior to the COVID-19 situation, are exempted, Nash said.

In 2019, when New Zealand declared the IVL leaders explained that it was supposed to contribute to long-term sustainability of tourism, like environment protection. This came when the country was witnessing huge rise in tourists every year — 8% in 2018. Leaders predicted that by 2024, visitors might exceed the population of the country.

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