Local Government and Tourism
Last updated:
September 2008
This section covers:
Local Government's Role In Tourism
Local government is a key player in New Zealand’s tourism sector. Local government manages the natural and cultural resources that tourism relies on, provides core infrastructure, attractions and facilities, and often funds regional marketing and visitor information.
Much of the quality of the visitor experience derives from the environment, amenities and services at a destination. Balanced tourism development therefore requires a public/private partnership approach.
Post cards from Home: The Local Government Tourism Strategy 2003 (www.lgnz.co.nz and search for ‘Postcards from Home’) provides more detail about local government’s involvement in tourism:
- By statute, local government is responsible for the planning and management of New Zealand’s natural and cultural resources. Tourism, among other industries, relies on having these resources in a healthy state;
- Local government provides the core utilities and infrastructure on which the tourism industry is based. This includes district and city roads, lighting, water and sewerage, public transport systems, signs, airports and ports. Local government operates attractions such as museums, art galleries, sports stadia, convention centres, parks, events, tours, and other amenities. Collectively, this represents a multi billion dollar investment of public money. It also means that local government is perhaps the largest tourism operator in the country;
- Local government enables regional marketing and provides visitor information by being the primary source of funding for regional tourism organisations (RTOs) and the Visitor Information Network (VIN).
The challenge for local government is to enable a quality visitor experience. Tourism planning by local authorities should:
- Be strategic, and well-coordinated with other stakeholders;
- Facilitate participation by stakeholders, and be accountable to them;
- Respect the scale and character of the location;
- Include monitoring, and be open to adaptation
Why Local Government Should Invest in Tourism
Tourism contributes to the social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing of an area. Therefore many local authorities place high priority on supporting and developing tourism. Tourism is estimated to provide one in ten jobs in New Zealand, many of them located outside the main employment centres, in small businesses employing fewer than five people.
Research undertaken for Local Government New Zealand and the Economic Development Association of New Zealand in 2003 indicated that local authorities collectively spent $29.5 million on tourism, making it the largest area of direct economic development expenditure.
Areas of expenditure specified in the study included: events (see Event Development, Funding & Evaluation Toolbox); cultural tourism; (Demand for Cultural Tourism); regional tourism organisations; tourism marketing (promotion); and Visitor Information Centres (VIN).
The Link Between the Tourism Planning Toolkit and Local Government Planning
A tourism strategy is one of what may be a number of specific strategic plans developed by a local authority to provide direction in the preparation of an Annual Plan. TLAs are not legally bound to provide a tourism strategy. However the new requirement for Long Term Council Community Plans provides a possible pathway for the preparation of a tourism strategy, or for consideration of a council’s specific tourism-related activities.
The diagram below indicates where a tourism strategy might fit in the planning process. For TLAs wishing to develop a tourism strategy, the Tourism Planning Toolkit identifies the essential information requirements. The Toolkit also provides tools to address region-specific issues.
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