Monday, November 13, 2017
The tourism industry of New Zealand is alleging that the government is lacking research into the country’s biggest export earner.
A recent tourism report said that there were significant gaps in data on domestic and regional tourism, and accurate up-to-date information for the sector to plan ahead.
TIA Chief Executive Chris Roberts said that there is no central place to source data, and there is a need for consistent standards to use the information with confidence.
The tourism industry has voiced concerns about the accuracy of official Government statistics from MBIE, particularly around tourism spending which had apparently dropped or remained static despite continued growth in visitor arrivals.
Roberts said the new Tourism Insight Framework project aimed to ensure tourism businesses received good quality data that they could use for future planning.
An example of that was the Bed and Breakfast Association which found that being deficient in information about international B&B visitors was hampering the ability of small owner operators to identify target markets.
Other businesses said that there was a lack of information about natural disasters and their impact on international visitor flows.
