Our Accountability

The Ministry of Tourism accounts for spending of government money through formally agreed purchasing and reporting processes that are monitored by Treasury, the Minister of Tourism and a Parliamentary Select Committee.

Each year, as part of the Government's budget process, estimates are made of the amount of money that needs to be spent on tourism. You can view these estimates on the Treasury website.

These estimates are based on the Minister of Tourism purchasing certain services (outputs) from the Ministry of Tourism. These services (outputs) are specified in a Purchase Agreement - a formal agreement between the Minister of Tourism and the General Manager of the Ministry.

The Purchase Agreement specifies:

• the quantity of each output,

• the quality of each output

• the cost of each output,

• the terms and conditions around a purchase, such as quarterly reporting, explaining variances, and provisions for amending the agreement.

The Ministry supplies two types of output, namely Policy Advice and Land and Property Management.

1. Policy Advice

Within the "Policy Advice" Output Class the following services are supplied:

• Core Policy Advice
  covering specific policy topics, like advice on tourism strategy, providing comment on proposals from other departments which affect tourism, regular briefings on issues and notes for speeches or committees;

• Research and Statistics
  providing the core tourism statistical series, generic applied research, a research & development strategy, dissemination mechanisms and secretariat support for the joint public-private sector Tourism Research website.

• Advice on Crown Entities and Grants
  providing advice to the Minister on the purchase of services from Tourism New Zealand, assessing Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) reports on delivery of those services; ownership advice on TNZ and Maori Arts and Crafts Institute including advice on appointments and financial position, reserve lands and tourism facilities grants;

• Advice and Assistance on Major Events
  providing advice on policy, facilitating co-operation between central government, local government and private business, and specific events facilitation such as for the America's Cup;

• Ministerial Correspondence and Questions
  drafting of replies to ministerial correspondence, answering parliamentary questions, answering requests under the Official Information Act and Ombudsman's enquiries.

2: Land and Property Management

This output class involves the management of tourism and other tenancies or concessions at Wairakei and Rotorua.

Management of Land Property at Wairakei and Rotorua
Responsible for tourism policy objectives, manage concessions and other property issues, and assist the Commissioner on legacy issues relating to concessions. This includes management of two leases, one with the NZ Maori Arts and Craft Institute and one with the Rotorua Golf Club and an unleased reserve.

The Ministry reports to the Minister on a quarterly basis, accounting for performance against targets in each of the output classes.

The Annual Report of the Ministry of Economic Development includes a section on the performance of the Ministry of Tourism. This report is tabled in parliament and reviewed by a parliamentary select committee.