Can New Zealand’s Tourism become Sustainable?

Tourism has been on the backburner for the world generally, and New Zealand in particular, for the last few years thanks to the eruption of COVID-19. With vaccinations largely rolled out, the country is now fully open for tourism, but will this be more sustainable than in the pre-pandemic era?

New Zealand’s Unique Position, and Opening Borders

New Zealand is famous for many things, from its stunning landscapes and exotic wildlife to forming the epic backdrop for the beloved Lord of the Rings film trilogy. It is also unique in having such an isolated geographical position. In many ways this can be an inconvenience, but it also made lockdowns and travel bans far easier and more effective than for many other countries (especially those that share land borders with multiple other nations). As the borders open up once more, New Zealand will be hoping for normality to resume in its relations with the rest of the world, particularly concerning tourism and other foreign guests.

Rene de Monchy (chief executive officer of Tourism New Zealand) has opined that the rebuilding of tourism will be a slow, gradual process rather than a rapid resumption. Tourism to New Zealand is not only a matter of flights (although these are obviously critical to the success of the sector) but also cruise lines, with first arrivals in mid-August.

Tourism contributed some 5.5% of GDP (equivalent to $16.4bn) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures. Until this prior level is matched, this will reduce available government funds compared to normal years, a problem that many nations with strong tourism sectors around the world are grappling with already.

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Education and Foreign Students

When thinking of borders and the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on travel, it is natural to focus on tourism, and to consider business. But international students are highly important for many countries, and New Zealand is no exception to this. The borders have been shut since March 2020, harshly affecting the foreign student intake, a sector that had previously contributed some US$3.15bn to the economy. By 2021, this figure had fallen to just a quarter of its pre-pandemic level.

While the borders have opened for tourists and students alike, incomers will be required to have either a certificate of vaccination or an approved exemption, and two tests are necessary after arrival. However, the absence of quarantine will make it much likelier that potential tourists and students will choose New Zealand than if they had been subjected to weeks in isolation.

Gradual End of Restrictions

Across the world, tourism is struggling to recover after the global healthcare crisis massively reduced international travel and domestic tourism (where possible) rose to meet the demand for vacations. New Zealand is in an interesting position, geographically hard to reach, but famous as an excellent destination.

The degree of restrictions nations imposed to combat COVID-19 varied significantly, and New Zealand was notable for being one of the strictest. This was partially because the geographical isolation of the nation enabled it to more effectively keep out visitors and thus maintain the integrity of closed borders. However, a corresponding factor that may make returning tourism to pre-pandemic levels more difficult is that New Zealand has also been slower than many other countries around the world when it comes to lifting restrictions.

Borders have gradually been opening since February and this process has now been completed. Tourism is the biggest single export of New Zealand with many visitors coming from (relatively) nearby Australia. In 2019, one and a half million visitors came from Australia. The gradual lifting of restrictions enabled Aussies to visit in March, with other major sources of tourists (such as the USA and the United Kingdom) able to visit in May.

Can New Zealand Tourism Fully and Sustainably Recover?

The situation is wrapped up with a larger problem that the global economy and tourism sector are facing. Right now, the war in Ukraine has helped lead to a spike in inflation due to higher food and gas prices, reducing living standards in many countries (including in Europe), and reducing disposable income. New Zealand has amazing landscapes and is very much a dream destination for many people, but the distance involved does mean that travel costs are higher than many potential alternatives and a squeeze on living standards in countries like the United Kingdom will make it more difficult for the sector to return to 2019 levels.

In seeking to return to, and exceed (if possible), pre-pandemic levels of tourism New Zealand is also aspiring to a greener and more sustainable model that can persist for the long term. The country faces a dilemma that tourism poses to many parts of the world: natural beauty attracts visitors but this can then risk eroding or even destroying the landscapes and features that brought them to begin with. Excessive crowds in local beauty spots and the accompanying litter brings in not just tourism cash but clean-up costs and can raise the ire of residents. Protecting New Zealand’s beauty while still enabling tourism is as much a challenge as attracting visitors in a post-pandemic world.

Steps that could improve the situation include deliberately limiting visitor numbers to specific locations, and adding a small extra fee to help fund necessary infrastructure upgrades. Now may be the perfect time for this shift in emphasis from cranking up the numbers and then dealing with whatever downsides ensue to trying to make tourism sustainable, mitigating the downsides ahead of time by taking a conservationist approach to numbers while also enhancing infrastructure to cope better.

The world is still recovering back to normality, and the pandemic is not completely over yet. Despite this, New Zealand remains a top destination for many people, and as its borders fully reopen the time is right for a sustainable approach to tourism.