24 Nov 2020

Tourism 'reset' should focus on cruise ships not backpackers - Expert

From Morning Report, 8:19 am on 24 November 2020

A tourism expert says if the government wants to "reset" the kind of visitors that come to New Zealand, the incoming minister should be banning cruise ships not backpackers.

Last week new Tourism Minister Stuart Nash told industry bosses he would ban hiring vans that are not self-contained to tourists, and urged the industry to focus on attracting wealthy travellers, saying backpackers and freedom campers should not be the target market.

James Higham is a Professor of Tourism at Otago University.

He speaks to Corin Dann.