Heather du Plessis-Allan: I don't think now's the time for a higher tourist levy

Today, the Government has done the thing that the tourism industry was hoping they wouldn't do and increased the visitor levy - the amount that tourists pay to come here - from $35 bucks to $100.

That is the high end of what they were considering. The Government could have gone with $50, or $70, or just left it at $35. But they went full noise to $100.

Now in principle, I'm on board with this. I've long thought tourists need to pay more for what they use here, because if they're not paying for it, we're subsidising them.

How long have we talked about the poor punters in Queenstown who have to pay for the roads the tourists jam up, the water infrastructure that tourists get to use to have a nice time, the public toilets the tourists use - it's not fair for ratepayers to have to subsidise an industry.

But I don't think now is the time to be doing this.

For some reason, tourists just aren't coming back here like we thought they would. Five years on from Covid really starting, our tourism numbers are only back to about 80 percent, and we don't know when they'll get back to 100 percent.

Meanwhile over in Australia, they reckon they’ll be back to 100 percent in three months. But for some reason, we're still lagging.

Our attractiveness as a tourism destination has deteriorated, and it's perplexing. Even the experts can't work this out.

Part of the problem is that China isn't flying like it used to - and another reason is that this isn't the only extra cost the Government has lumped on tourists. 

Just last month, it increased the cost of tourists getting a visa to come here. Now people in places like China, if they were to bring a family of five - it would now cost them $2200 just for the paperwork before they arrive.

I don't think making New Zealand more expensive right now, while we’re struggling to recover, is a smart idea. Especially because we need to recover - we’re in our third recession in two years, we need the money.

Frankly, this feels like a short-sighted money grab to try to balance the Government's books. It's short-sighted because it will help make the books look better today - but won’t help bring in the tourists tomorrow.

So yes on principle, but the timing is way off.

Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.