Travel threatens environment in NZ and vice versa

Industry experts warn that a growing awareness of the impact of international travel on the environment poses a threat to New Zealand tourism, saying that New Zealand must work hard to hold its position as a top destination, given its distance from the rest of the world.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said New Zealand had to ensure tourists were not put off visiting here as they became more aware of the environmental impact of travelling, adding “We are seen as probably the cleanest and greenest country to visit, and that means we have to make sure we stay ahead of the game on these issues”. “We need to work hard to make sure we continue to attract tourists.”

The Green Party criticised Tourism New Zealand yesterday for not putting enough emphasis on environmental issues in its annual report, with co-leader Russel Norman saying “As climate change moves increasingly to the centre of people’s thinking, they will think long and hard about flying to New Zealand for a holiday, with all the associated greenhouse emissions, but Tourism New Zealand’s report does not even identify this as an issue”, adding, “I welcome Tourism New Zealand’s embrace of the Green Globe programme (which certifies companies and communities with good environmental management plans), but it is not enough.

“They need to be pushing the Government to clean up our environmental act so at least we can tell visitors we’re trying to fix the mess.”

The claim was rejected by Hickton, who said the industry was aware of its obligations, commenting, “It isn’t really mentioned in our report because that is a summary of the year up to June last year and the issues that affected us, and really it hasn’t had a major impact yet”.

“At the moment people are still more concerned about the cost or the time aspects because we are so far away,” he said.

“But that is not to say we are not concerned about the environmental issue and that we are not working on it. It is very important and could well have an impact in a few years time.”

“It is certainly something we are already looking at and will be encouraging industry to look at more in the future and many companies were already considering how they could help improve the environment, he said for example, United Campervans, a campervan rental company, sponsors a tree-planting scheme on Motuora Island in the Hauraki Gulf to offset emissions from its vehicles.”

“We looked into carbon credits and things, but this project appealed to us because it is run by volunteers and really gives us a chance to help them and the environment,” MD Kay Howe said.

“We realise our campervans are throwing out lots of diesel fumes, so this is a way of trying to counteract that.”

The director of the Isaac Centre for Nature Conservation at Lincoln University, Professor Ian Spellerberg, said the environment was an important factor in tourism adding, “We have to take those concerns and look at ways of offsetting them, but tourists can also have an impact on our environment and we need to look at that as well, even if it means limiting numbers in certain areas”.

Economist Brian Easton said the importance of the tourism industry to New Zealand was often underestimated, adding, “It is a service industry and often its benefits are invisible, so people underestimate it.” People always think farming contributes the most to our exports”.  “However, tourism earns a huge amount for the country and the tourism industry needs to grow at a faster rate than the economy in general if the country is to prosper.”

“If the tourism sector slows down, it would have an effect on the whole economy.”

Report by The Mole