IVL

A cabinet paper from Tourism Minister Peeni Henare says without the funding some Great Rides may close.

A change to the $35 IVL could be coming, according to The Treasury’s Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update.

The govt wants to build more regenerative and resilient tourism and conservation.

It could have raised up to $444m annually to support tourism, conservation, and to help tackle climate change.

The new funding from the IVL fund marks its first allocation for tourism since the pausing of deployments in 2020.

Revenue collected in the first year to June 2020 was $57.3m, approximately 30% lower than the forecasted revenue of $82m.

But it could be longer before unrestricted global travel resumes, says the department.

More than 500,000s NZeTAs have been issued to travellers coming into New Zealand since the system went live in August.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa is proposing a portion of the International Visitor Levy is assigned to the tourism industry to seed the establishment of industry-led research capacity and capability.

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development’s Go with Tourism platform has received a Commendation for Innovation at the Economic Development New Zealand 2019 Best Practice Awards.

Cash collected from the International Visitor and Conservation Levy is tracking ahead of forecasts despite a significant proportion of travellers not yet paying the $35 levy or the new NZ Electronic Travel Authority. 

Operators Grant Webster, Verity Webber, Kauahi Ngapora, and Dr Gerry McSweeney will help decide how funds from the visitor levy will be deployed.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is running a webinar on the new International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy.

Around $3.7m has so far been taken for the IVL through the new travel authority, says Immigration NZ.

The IVL cash will go towards tracks and infrastructure around Fox Glacier as well as alternative experiences.

Initiatives at Milford, Arthur’s Pass, Westland and Tongariro are among the schemes to get funding from the new levy.

The new authority will cost visitors $9 via a mobile app and $12 through the NZeTA website.

The first investment of funds collected from the new levy could be made as early as October.

The International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy was passed in Parliament on Saturday under urgency.

RTOs could be in for a windfall from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy.

The government should scrap its planned tourism tax because of a possible slowdown in the sector, says Todd McClay.

The industry has welcomed the “long over-due change of direction” and “alignment” contained in the government draft Tourism Strategy released today.

The government has launched its draft Tourism Strategy for consultation and settled on the split of the funds raised from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy. 

The industry has called on the government to spend revenue raised from the new international visitor tax wisely, and ensure the circa $80m a year remains an additional – not replacement – funding source.

Affected visitors will pay at the top of the range put out for consultation by the Government.

A proposed Local Tourism Levy would apply to all visitors including Kiwis.

Tourism associations have expressed support but have also issued a number of strong – and sometimes competing – qualifications.

Funds from the proposed International Border Levy should be committed solely to conservation and the regions should have the power to implement their own levies, says Regional Tourism New Zealand.

NZ operators say a redistribution of GST receipts remains the preferred method of funding the country’s $36bn tourism industry.

The consultation period for the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy has been extended by one week.

The tourism minister used previous statements made by senior members of National against them during an exchange on the proposed international visitor levy.

Here is what we know and what we don’t know about the International Visitor Levy

Foreign visitors from some countries will have to pay a new border tax next year and others face increased visa fees.

MBIE has outlined some of the kinds of investment into conservation and tourism that the levy could potentially contribute to.

Kelvin Davis on pushing ahead with the border levy, tackling freedom camping problems, and a desire to drive tourism-related education to the top of the school curriculum.

Warning bells are sounding within the tourism and aviation industries about exactly how a border tax will work, with the possibility several countries could be excluded.

The tourism minister has committed to implementing a border levy – TIA and TEC chiefs give their views.

A levy on international visitors to New Zealand is set to be finalised within weeks with implementation targeted for around Budget-time 2019.

Customs NZ and the Ministry of Primary Industries are planning to slash the Border Clearance Levy citing the country’s booming tourism sector.

Reports suggest the New Zealand government is considering imposing charge on international air travelers.

The National Party has launched a salvo of questions at Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis following his first address to industry, which appeared to soften the government’s stance on a border levy.

A Newshub-Reid Research poll has revealed many New Zealanders support a “tourist tax” to help fund infrastructure and the Department of Conservation.  

A tourist tax should be used to help stop the decline in the country’s native bird species, according to a new report from the Government’s environment watchdog.

Transcript of Questions & Answers in Parliament on Tuesday where Tourism Minister Paula Bennett faces her critics on the tourist border levy.

We have always prided ourselves that New Zealand is the land of the great outdoors.

Tourism Minister Paula Bennett’s push to rule out a tourist border levy has drawn fire from politicians across the spectrum who labelled her stance as “irresponsible” and “short-sighted”.

Local visitor levies should be used as a tool to fund as infrastructure according to the findings of a new high-level report.

In an interview with journalist Jessica Mutch on TVNZ’s Q+A on Sunday, Tourism Minister Paula Bennett justifies her opposition to a tourist tax.

LGNZ has renewed calls for a new infrastructure funding mechanism after the cost of the nationwide project pipeline was revealed to be $1.38bn.

A targeted visitor tax imposed at New Zealand’s border is the fairest way to ensure tourists contribute to cover costs of their visit.