The Minister of Tourism wants rich travelers, not those who spend “$10 a day”.

New Zealand’s tourism minister, Stuart Nash, wants to favor big-budget tourists over those traveling on “ten dollars a day”.

No backpackers in New Zealand? According to the New Zealand Minister in charge of Tourism, the Oceania country above all wants to welcome travelers on a big budget, Reports Watchman. On Wednesday, when he announced a government plan to reopen tourism, Stuart Nash said New Zealand is focusing on “high-quality” tourists who are “big spenders”.

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

This isn’t his first statement in this sense: Stewart Nash already asserted two years ago that the country should attract tourists who “travel business or premium economy, charter a helicopter, or take a tour.” [du glacier] Then Franz Joseph dined in a large restaurant”, a suggestion that earned him accusations of elitism 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 a lower impact on the environment, tourists with a small budget, 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 recorded 3.9 million international arrivals in 2019, the last normal year before the pandemic, representing more than NZ$16 billion (€9.95 billion).