New Zealand Tourism Tax

For those interested:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/14/new-...structure.html

Whew!!! Will be going later this year and not 2019. I do remember reading an article lately about New Zealand folk lamenting how tourism is greatly impacting certain locations, especially those associated with the Lord of the Rings movies.

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It's only a couple of $$$$ no biggy. We already do it for Australia. I was always surprised NZ didn't have the same thing

All the New Zealand ports we visited had little infrastructure near the ship. No buildings, no stores, no WiFi. If they are so insistent about no food off the ship, the really need a place to buy snacks right off the pier. Some of our ship excursions had meeting times at noon, and no food offered on the tour.

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As much as I enjoy New Zealand, as a visitor, I am more than willing to pay such an increase. Such a welcoming and friendly and beautiful country deserves to have us tourists pay for their providing of services that benefit us as well as their country.

We would certainly hope that the USA slaps reciprocal tourist tax on any Kiwi visitors. Their government neglected to mention that tourism adds about $34 Billion (NZ) to their economy.

Hank

Good for them. We will be happy to pay the visa charge when we go on our HAL cruise in Oct 2019.

We would certainly hope that the USA slaps reciprocal tourist tax on any Kiwi visitors. Their government neglected to mention that tourism adds about $34 Billion (NZ) to their economy.

 

Hank

I STRONGLY OPPOSE YOUR COMMENT!

Their economy is significantly smaller than ours. New Zealand seems to be trying to properly fund their infrastructure while our Congress dithers and fails to fund our country's infrastructure needs.

RKA ... two thumbs up!!!!

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All the New Zealand ports we visited had little infrastructure near the ship. No buildings, no stores, no WiFi. If they are so insistent about no food off the ship, the really need a place to buy snacks right off the pier. Some of our ship excursions had meeting times at noon, and no food offered on the tour.

 

 

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Which ports did you visit?

We would certainly hope that the USA slaps reciprocal tourist tax on any Kiwi visitors. Their government neglected to mention that tourism adds about $34 Billion (NZ) to their economy.

 

Hank

You do know that we already pay into your economy when we apply for an ESTA? This is the same tax that you will pay when you apply for entry to NZ.

Thanks for sharing the info.

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You do know that we already pay into your economy when we apply for an ESTA? This is the same tax that you will pay when you apply for entry to NZ.

Thank you for providing the full story.

Which ports did you visit?

Wellington, Port Chalmers, Napier (nice they had musicians in the port area when we returned to the ship), Tauranga (horrible excursion bus), Picton (no a/c in bus), Auckland (too sick to notice). We missed Christchurch due to fog delay in Port Chalmers.

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Back to the fee. I’m more concerned with a long uncomfortable plane ride. If finances are so tight, I’d give up a night in the Pinnacle, and pay the fee. If it gets them better buses, I’m o.k. With that too. They had a huge range of buses, from the fancy, ECO enhanced bus with the monitor front showing the road ahead, to the horrible bus with no leg room, and no head rests in Tauranga.

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The levy is to be split between tourism infrastructure and conservation activity, through an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA).

mbie.govt.nz

As already stated, visitors to the USA already pay a levy via an ETA.

knittinggirl --- Back to your TOTALLY WRONG - BLANKET statement earlier about New Zealand ports.

Port Chalmers - just off the dock there is a cruise terminal with cafe & FREE WIFI. A few metres up the street are shops.

Picton town has free wifi in the ferry terminal & a small town right there.

At Napier, Tauranga & Wellingtom which are commercial docks - the locals supply a free shuttle right into town.

Auckland - just off the pier [it is actually a pier] you are right in town.

With a population of 4-5 million, one sixth of Texas! - the beautiful friendly people of NZ have to protect their main agricultural exports from stupid people who want to bring food off the cruise ships & everybody should know why they are so strict. In any case certain packaged items can be brought off the ship - so you are again incorrect.

knittinggirl,

Thank you for listing the ports you visited.

Port Chalmers has free wifi in the building you pass through to reach the street, also free wifi. At the base of the street which leads up the hill there is a cafe, which can be accessed by pedestrian crossings(5 minute walk at the most after leaving the port building) A few more minutes walk up the hill is a supermarket where you could have purchased snacks.

Dunedin city centre also free wifi. Numerous cafes, also 2 supermarkets in the Central Business District.

At Mount Maunganui the port for Tauranga there is an icecream shop and cafe outside the port gates. A short walk of only 2 or 3 short blocks away is the pleasant shopping area with many cafes and shops .

Wellington it used to be possible to walk from the ship about 20 minutes into the shopping area, but since earthquake damage to the port a shuttle bus is provided to the city centre. Free wifi downtown.

Picton has free wifi and several several cafes.

In Auckland there are nearby cafes and a supermarket close to where the ship berths.

Napier is a commercial port, therefore a shuttle is provided to transport passengers into the city area where numerous cafes are located.

All the New Zealand ports we visited had little infrastructure near the ship. No buildings, no stores, no WiFi. If they are so insistent about no food off the ship, the really need a place to buy snacks right off the pier. Some of our ship excursions had meeting times at noon, and no food offered on the tour.

 

 

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NZ has some great Wifi in the smaller towns. You just have to be near the local library and you can pick up Wifi.

I agree with you about the lack of infrastructure at the ports. We found ourselves at timber ports mostly, having to follow a path between the pallets of logs. Unfortunately some of the ports were impacted by the earthquake of a few years ago and a new port has not been built.

We were on the Noordam in 2016 and we had a serious maintenance problem and had to stay another 24 hours at Napier. Sadly we then missed 2 ports, Auckland and the Bay of Islands.

Please understand that I support reciprocal taxes if they are used to support a country's infrastructure. Our USA Visa fees are simply used to defray some of the expenses of the agency that issues the Visas. We do not assess special fees on our guests to be used in lieu of taxes. As to NZ, DW and I have spent nearly 6 weeks driving throughout both North and South Islands and absolutely love the country. Having visited about 120 countries around the world NZ is where we would choose to live if we ever left the USA (which will not happen). My favorite city in NZ, by far, is Queenstown which fortunately is not accessible to cruise ship passengers. Our favorite island is South Island which just blew us away with all of its natural beauty (much of it not within range of cruise ship passengers on day trips).

While driving around South Island we met quite a few younger Americans and Canadians who were working in various jobs. They all told us a similar story about having visited NZ as a tourist and deciding not to leave :). It is that kind of country.

Hank