A Critique of Tourism Policy and Planning in New Zealand - Coursework Example

PRESENTED A CRITIQUE OF TOURISM POLICY AND PLANNING IN NEW ZEALAND A critique of tourism policy and planning in New Zealand Introduction Tourism is a key global industry, responsible for a considerable percentage of world production, trade, employment, and investments (UNWTO, 2012). It is a fundamental spring of foreign exchange plus foreign direct investment. Furthermore, tourism is a labour intensive industry since it is service oriented. Many nations have targeted tourism as an economic vehicle to generate jobs, eliminate poverty, protect the ecosystem, and market the cultural diversity within their territories. All things have their advantages and disadvantages; tourism is no exception. If actors do not manage tourism well, it can culminate to sexual abuse of women plus children. This can fuel human trafficking. Tourism can also destroy the ecosystem if the natural resources and heritage sites are not used sustainably. Furthermore, tourism occurs within a locality that is home to communities. It is possible for tourism to flourish without benefiting the local communities. These are a few examples of the down side of tourism if the industry is not managed in a socially responsible manner (Dredge 2006). Tourism is a business with all the inherent challenges that face other types of businesses the world over. However, every market segment, niche market, geographical region, and supporting industries have issues and problems that are peculiar to them. Some examples of issues include inter-regional and intra-regional competition, environment conservation, growth, infrastructure, human resource development, and capacity building. From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that the development of tourism in a given country requires proper policies and planning. The strategies in the plans would ensure growth of the industry in a sustainable manner. In this paper, I will discuss New Zealand in this context. New Zealand New Zealand is an island nation southwest of the Pacific Ocean, some 900 miles to the East of the Australian Continent. New Zealand is in the Oceania, close to Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia, and a host of other pacific islands. New Zealand contains two chief islands; North plus South, and other smaller islands including Stewart, Chatham, and Waiheke Islands. The country is 900 miles long along its North-North-East orientation, and 250 miles at its widest position. It is bordered by over 9000 miles of coastline, and a large area containing the country’s maritime resources (Dredge 2006). The islands are on the boundary between the Pacific plate and the Indo-Australian Plate, which is in the pacific ‘ring of fire’. This has the greatest influence on topography of New Zealand. The country is mountainous with a high level of volcanism which results in unique scenery. The New Zealand Territory lies between latitudes 29ᴼ south and 53ᴼ south, and has sharply varied climate across its regions. Some areas in the north of the South island receive as much as 2500 hours of precious sunshine (Hall 2008). New Zealand has a rich natural heritage. It has green countryside and unique flora and fauna. This is a statistical truth as illustrated by the fact that 82 per cent of higher plant species are endemic. Further, over 40 per cent of fungi species are also endemic. There are also a wide variety of birds and reptiles, some of which are unique to this beautiful country. Some flora and fauna are facing extinction while others, such as marine mammals and penguins, are abundant. The country, therefore, has a protection programme with over 30 per cent of the land marked as protected areas. To cap it all, the country has a rich cultural history (Dredge 2006). The description of New Zealand indicates that the country has a lot to present due to the country’s status of being a tourist target. Conversely, the state is very remote. It, therefore, has to target a niche market for its tourism industry to thrive. New Zealand has 14 national parks, a rich Maori culture, stunning landscapes, beautiful scenery, and water activities. A holiday in New Zealand provides a chance to encounter volcanic landscape, enjoy the best ski fields, encounter unique wildlife, and explore valleys (Hall 2008). New Zealand is a member of the commonwealth. It has a central government and regional and local councils which have potentially crucial tasks to work on in tourism planning plus management. The directives of these councils cover cross-boundary issues, management of impact, and the provision of infrastructure. Several central government organizations possess indirect roles in regard to tourism planning plus management. Some of these agencies are accountable for issues of cultural heritage preservation, for example, economic development, safety plus health, and transport (Colebatch 2009). New Zealand is a developed nation with high literacy levels, a stable government, and strong institutions. Its infrastructure is quite advanced since most of the New Zealanders are urban dwellers. The country is divided into regions as shown in figure 1. However, the major cities are Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch as indicated in figure 2. There are many airports that connect the different regions by air. Auckland and Christchurch have airports that connect to most international destinations (Dredge 2006). Figure 1: Regions of New Zealand Figure 2: Cities in New Zealand (Hall 2008) Issues and Problems New Zealand is far from the major trade routes and centres of the world. The tourist destination is a 24 hour flight from Western Europe and a 12 hour flight from the western coast of United States. The tourism industry has to put in more effort to woo tourists. The industry will ensure that it targets those people who are likely to travel to New Zealand. It is noteworthy that this geographical position has endowed the country with rich topography, flora, and fauna. Some of the areas are pristine and are especially attractive to nature lovers, artists, and movie producers (Colebatch 2009). New Zealand has a very fragile ecosystem. Many birds, reptiles, and plants have become extinct since the European settlers came into New Zealand. Unsustainable tourism can easily damage this ecosystem. Sustainable tourism is the biggest issue in tourism, especially in nature based tourism. Sustainability has many dimensions. The first regards tourists interact with the plants plus animals in their usual environment. The second regards the use of available resources such as infrastructure, labour, water, and energy. The third aspect regards the production of waste and subsequent management of the waste to minimise the impact on the environment. The fourth aspect regards the resultant economic benefit and how it reaches the local community that is part of the habitat. The fifth dimension is sustainable growth through parallel development of capacity, increase in direct investment, and growth of supporting industries (Hall 2008). The emerging issues in Tourism concern how tourism activities contribute to climate change. The customers the world over are increasingly sensitive to activities that have high carbon emissions or endanger species on the edge of extermination. There is evidence of sensitivity to deforestation, excessive energy and resource consumption, and the released waste to the environment in an unsustainable manner. New Zealand has to be sensitive to these issues for the well being of its society, and the customer-experience while remaining compliant on the global arena. Data is one of the most important aspects of any business. Tourism sector is constantly changing in terms of consumer preferences, tourist numbers, and the market scenarios. It is, therefore, necessary to develop an efficient statistical tool to collect and analyse data in a given country and across regions in order to have a timely indicator for the industry. The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has developed a statistical tool and guidelines for data collection and analysis (Rosentraub & Joo 2009). Australia is the main source of tourists that visit New Zealand. About 42 percent of all international tourists that visit are from Australia. The United Kingdom, United States, China, and Japan are second, third, fourth, and fifth respectively in terms of the number of tourists bound for New Zealand. The economic situation in the world has a bearing on the tourist arrivals in New Zealand. For example, the slow-down of the Japanese economy, the Tsunami, the outbreak of flu (SARS), and appreciation of the New Zealand Currency had a direct impact on the number of Japanese tourist arrivals (Colebatch 2009). Another challenge facing the tourism sector in New Zealand is a shortage of skills. The tourism sector and the hospitality sector face an uphill task with regard to developing and maintaining a people and skills required for growth in the next decade. The New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015 acknowledges this as part of outcome two in the strategy. This part states that tourism attracts and retains an appropriately skilled workforce (Colebatch 2009). Tourists who visit New Zealand access many services such as hotels, attractions, activities, travel, policing, public transport, and air transport services. Although unemployment is on the rise, industries in New Zealand are competing for skilled workers and tourism firms are also finding it difficult to find unskilled workers. It is these people who deliver a good visitor experience. Policy and Planning Policy and research are the main responsibility of the Ministry of Tourism in New Zealand. The marketing aspect of tourism is the responsibility of New Zealand Tourism Board, which uses ‘Tourism New Zealand’ as the trade name. In 1901, New Zealand dedicated a department in the government to tourism. The role of the government department evolves as the tourism sector grows and new challenges emerge (Edgell, Allen, Smith & Swanson 2008). Policy is a general term that signifies the official adoption of a position by the government (Dredge and Jenkins, 2007, p. 10) while planning occurs in decision making. Planning is the basis of policy making. However, my opinion is that policy and planning overlap and one can be inferred from the other. Policy results in an overall strategy for the given sector. It is imperative to bear in mind that policy is affected by political processes and the consensus developed thereof. I will not delve into the ideological debates that are the mainstay of political discussions, but it will suffice to state that politics shape tourism policies. The government of New Zealand is actively involved in policy formulation for the country’s tourism sector. The core objective of the tourism policy is tourism development, sustainably. Development in itself connotes policy choices in which certain stakeholders may gain while others may lose. Therefore, the issue of sustainability is paramount in order to ensure that all stakeholders gain from tourism while protecting the resources for future generations (Ruhanen 2008). The roles and objectives of tourism policy can be summed up as ensuring economic development, increasing competitiveness and viability of destinations and enterprises, and maximising local prosperity. Other roles and objectives cover the areas of employment quality, visitor fulfilment, biological diversity, resource efficiency, environmental purity, and sustainability (Rosentraub & Joo 2009). I will relate these to the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015, which is a document that outlines the specific actions that reflect the tourism policy in New Zealand. The New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015 has four outcomes, each of which has actions, which will give the desired results. The first outcome is that New Zealand delivers a world class experience as a tourist target. The second outcome is that the tourism industry prospers and continuously attracts investment. The third outcome is that the tourism industry leads in protecting and improving the environment in New Zealand. The fourth outcome is that the industry works with the communities in order to benefit mutually from tourism activities (Edgell et al. 2008). The tourism industry seeks to increase demand for tourism products by promoting domestic tourism and aggressively marketing New Zealand as a tourist destination. An example of an initiative to encourage domestic tourism is ‘Positively Wellington Tourism.’ On the other hand, ‘100% pure New Zealand’ is a campaign to market the country abroad (Rosentraub & Joo 2009). Policy formulation and execution involve a number of stakeholders to varying degrees. These include Ministry of Tourism, Tourism New Zealand, Ministry of Economic Development, and academic institutions. Other stakeholders are the Department of Conservation, tourism industry associations, tour operators, Local Governments, airlines, border agencies, and local communities (Ruhanen 2008). Each stakeholder has a fundamental task to engage in the wider scheme of things since the tourism industry cannot operate in isolation (Ruhanen 2008). New Zealand is not a member of UNWTO. The country is neither in the list of associate members nor the list of observers. This is evident from the official website of UNWTO. Lincoln University is the only affiliate member of UNWTO within New Zealand. This is an interesting occurrence given that a cursory glance at tourism policies in New Zealand gives the impression that they are consistent with UNWTO guidelines. A Critique Tourism in New Zealand contributes to about 9 per cent of GDP and directly or indirectly provides 10 per cent of all jobs. Therefore, the sector deserves the attention it gets from government departments, political parties, politicians, key stakeholders, and the wider public. The country is arguably a top tourist destination as seen from the many awards it has received from different sources (Ruhanen 2008). The domestic tourist spending actually outstrips international tourist spending in the last two years. This reflects the success of the campaign to promote domestic tourism in order to increase demand for accommodation facilities and other tourism products. On the other hand, ‘100% pure New Zealand’ campaign is hugely successful and is among the best marketing promotions for tourism in the world. The targeted approach that the campaign took fits well with the geographical positioning of New Zealand. The intensive marketing leads to growth of tourist numbers. The growth brings a number of challenges whose central theme is sustainability. Air transport congests since it is usually the main mode of transport for travelling long distances. Basic utilities like electricity, water, and sanitation overstretch. High visitor numbers affect natural habitats in ways that are unknown. The higher visitor volumes also call for more skilled and unskilled personnel (Gossling & Scott 2008). All the issues are dealt with in the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015. Further, a number of other policies directly address major issues related to tourism. For example, there is an augment in electricity production emanating from renewable energy; the ministry of labour and other actors has a Tourism and Hospitality Workforce Strategy. There can be a disparity between national policies and the execution at the local level. Tourism leads to re-emergence of towns and promotes other sectors of the economy. However, it has been seen that destinations such as Queensland can grow so fast with no tourism management strategy at hand to make sure that infrastructure plus services are ahead. However, several local governments in New Zealand now have policies to address tourism in the wider context of the local economy and infrastructure (Bain & Williams 2009). Climate change is a major theme in the global arena. New Zealand has a carbon neutral policy that may be due to the long distances that planes travel to get to this tourism destination. However, the conservation efforts and large forests may counterbalance this issue (Gossling & Scott 2008). Conclusions and Recommendations New Zealand has an advanced tourism economy and related infrastructure. The marketing of the industry is first class, both domestically and abroad. However, there are three prime issues the country requires to tackle in order to uphold its lead as a tourism destination. Firstly, there should be parity between national and local policies. Further, the policies should not be mere rhetoric. Secondly, it should tackle the issue of climate change head on and demonstrate its commitment to a sustainable future. Finally, it should continue taking advantage of culture, sports, education, and cinema as marketing tools in the quest for an international presence (Bain & Williams 2009). Bibliography Dredge, D., & Jenkins, J. 2007, Tourism Planning and Policy, Brisbane, John Wiley and Sons. Colebatch, H. 2009, Policy. Maidenhead, UK, McGraw-Hill. Dredge, D. 2006, Policy networks and the local organisation of tourism, Tourism Management, 27(2), 269-280. Edgell, D., Allen, M. D., Smith, G., & Swanson, J. R. 2008, Tourism policy and planning: Yesterday, today and tomorrow, Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann. Gossling, S., & Scott, D. 2008, Climate Change and Tourism: Exploring Destination Vulnerability, Tourism Review International, 12(1), 1-3. Hall, C. M. 2008, Tourism Planning: Policies, Processes and Relationships, 2nd ed. Harlow, Pearson Education. Rosentraub, M. S., & Joo, M. 2009, Tourism and economic development: Which investments produce gains for regions? Tourism Management, 30(5), 759-770. Ruhanen, L. 2008, Progressing the sustainability debate: A knowledge management approach to sustainable tourism planning, Current Issues in Tourism, 11(5), 429-455. 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