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Speaker 1: Afternoon. International tourists will have to pay one hundred bucks

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Speaker 1: to enter the country from next month. The government's announced today.

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Speaker 1: It is more than tripling the international visitor levee, which

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Speaker 1: was previously thirty five dollars. The tourism industry is really

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Speaker 1: disappointed by the move. And Matt Doosey is the Minister

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Speaker 1: for Tourism and Hospitality Hammatt Hi Heather mad are you

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Speaker 1: sure this is a good idea.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. We want to grow the value of international tourism.

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Speaker 2: We want to support conservation. We've heard loud and clear

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Speaker 2: from the public consultation ninety three percent of over eleven

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Speaker 2: hundred submitters wanted the international visitor levy to increase, and

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Speaker 2: two thirds of them wanted it to increase to one

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Speaker 2: hundred dollars. When you think about that one hundred dollars,

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Speaker 2: that is only around two percent of what an international

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Speaker 2: tourists will spend on their trip. It's comparative to Australia

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Speaker 2: and the United Kingdom. And we want to support tourism

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Speaker 2: and conservation through this levee.

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Speaker 1: And so what about when you because you guys have

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Speaker 1: just put up the visit of visit a visa cost

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Speaker 1: as well when you chuck that together, where do we

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Speaker 1: sit in terms of where other countries we compare ourselves to.

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Speaker 2: Well, when you look at the international visitor levy, around

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Speaker 2: sixty percent of international tourists pay that Australia and Pacific

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Speaker 2: Island visitors.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's not what I'm asking you. So what

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Speaker 1: I'm saying is, just last month you pot up the

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Speaker 1: visitor visa costs as well, Right, So chuck the two

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Speaker 1: of them together, the visit of visa costs plus the

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Speaker 1: IVL and how competitive are we now internationally?

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Speaker 2: Well, when you look at the increase of Eric Stanford,

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Speaker 2: the Immigration Minister's visitor visas, that was for US smaller

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Speaker 2: group of countries because most countries visiting New Zealand are

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Speaker 2: visa waiver. What we want to do is shift some

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Speaker 2: of the costs from the taxpayer to the tourists. When

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Speaker 2: you look at the advice that I've received, there is

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Speaker 2: no evidence that the increase will significantly impact on tourism numbers.

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Speaker 2: In fact, I'm around the country most weeks either and

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Speaker 2: most torus operators are telling me that they're getting a

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Speaker 2: higher yield from their product and they're actually delivering a

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Speaker 2: higher quality experience. So we want to grow tourism. The

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Speaker 2: government's got an ambitious target to double exports. Tourism is

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Speaker 2: a big part of that, and I want to grow

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Speaker 2: the value of international tourism with social license.

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Speaker 1: So it looks to me like, if you're paying the

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Speaker 1: IVL plus the visitor visa, right, and you've got a

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Speaker 1: family of five, you're paying twenty two hundred bucks before

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Speaker 1: you even land in the country. Would Canada charge it,

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Speaker 1: would Australia charge it? Or is it just us?

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Speaker 2: Well, there is a range of prices that people pay

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Speaker 2: when they travel to a range of countries. Ultimately people

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Speaker 2: will make that choice. We are a premium destination.

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Speaker 1: Increasing but at least so. And this is why what

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Speaker 1: I'm trying to get to Matt, is that we are

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Speaker 1: losing our attractiveness. According to Forsyth, bar as a destination right.

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Speaker 1: So if increasingly people do not really want to come here,

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Speaker 1: is it the right thing to do to make it

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Speaker 1: more expensive.

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Speaker 2: Well, I would disagree with that assumption in the framing.

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Speaker 2: No evidence that the officials provided show there would be

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Speaker 2: a significant impact on tourism numbers. And like I say,

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Speaker 2: when I talk to the tourism operators, they are telling

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Speaker 2: me that they are getting a high yielding product. We

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Speaker 2: want to grow international tourism. I've set tourism what an

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Speaker 2: ambitious target of growing by five billion dollars over the

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Speaker 2: next form.

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Speaker 1: Tell me what is our internet, What is our recovery

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Speaker 1: looking like post COVID? Where are we sitting in terms

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Speaker 1: of tourism in terms of where we were pre COVID.

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Speaker 2: When you look at tourism numbers, we're at around eighty

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Speaker 2: two percent.

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Speaker 1: Okay, And where's Australia.

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Speaker 2: Are They're about eighty four or eighty five percent and

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Speaker 2: they will be.

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Speaker 1: Fully recovered by the end of the year. When are

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Speaker 1: we fully recovered?

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Speaker 2: But what we're seeing heather when you go around the country.

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Speaker 2: If you look at the hawks, baos and recently, when

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Speaker 2: you look at the value of international tourism, they're forty

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Speaker 2: percent above twenty nineteen levels. West coast of the South

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Speaker 2: Island they're about fifteen.

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Speaker 1: Are you saying the people coming over now we have

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Speaker 1: fewer of them, but they're spending more.

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Speaker 2: That's right. That's why tourism operators are saying they're having

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Speaker 2: a higher yield from their product and delivering a higher

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Speaker 2: quality product as well. We are seeing a lot of

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Speaker 2: growth coming out of the Chinese market. I think the

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Speaker 2: figures I saw in the last twelve months because they

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Speaker 2: were slow to return. It's increased by three hundred and

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Speaker 2: forty percent. And what we're also seeing is less of

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Speaker 2: the low value bus travelers, more of the higher value

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Speaker 2: independent Chinese market, which our tourism operators are responding to.

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Speaker 2: And that's why I say that ultimately this levy will

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Speaker 2: be reinvested into both tourism pressures but also the conservation

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Speaker 2: estates which a large part of people travel to New

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Speaker 2: Zealand four, so we'll be delivering a better product.

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Speaker 1: Matt, thank you for you to I'm really appreciated. That's

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Speaker 1: Matt Doocy, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality.

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Speaker 2: For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live talks.

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