The Minister of Tourism wants rich people, not people who spend “10 dollars a day.”

New Zealand’s Tourism Minister, Stuart Nash, wants to favor tourists with big budgets over those who travel “on ten dollars a day”.

No backpackers in New Zealand? According to the New Zealand Minister in charge of Tourism, the Oceanian country wants above all to welcome travelers on a big budget, reports Watchman. Stuart Nash said on Wednesday, when announcing the government’s plan to reopen tourism, that New Zealand is focusing on “high quality” tourists who are “big spenders”.

“We will welcome backpackers,” the New Zealand minister assured, but “we will not target people who explain on Facebook how they can travel around our country on $10 a day while eating instant noodles.”

This is not his first statement in this sense: Stuart Nash had already asserted two years ago that the country should attract tourists who “fly in business class or premium economy, rent a helicopter, take a tour [du glacier] Franz Josef then dined in a great restaurant”, a proposition that earned him accusations of elitist and arrogance.

Border reopening

But there is “no evidence” that big-budget travelers contribute more to the economy, says James Higham, professor of tourism at the University of Otago, in an interview with Watchman. Besides having less impact on the environment, budget tourists, such as backpackers or students, often stay “in the country longer” and their expenses are spread out over time.

After two years of strict barriers, New Zealand fully reopened its borders on August 1 – European, American and Canadian travelers were allowed to return from May 1. The country registered 3.9 million international arrivals in 2019, the last normal year before the pandemic hit, accounting for more than NZ$16 billion (€9.95 billion).