‘Removed That Barrier’: Change For Overseas Visitors Announced

Wednesday, 7 May 2025, 7:41 pm
Article: Laura Smith - Local Democracy Reporter

The Government is removing a barrier to make it easier for overseas visitors to enter the country.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston spoke at major tourism trade show Trenz in Rotorua this morning.

Upston said the Government would remove the requirement for overseas visitors’ applications to have translated supporting documents certified.

These visitors will instead need to advise who translated the document and what their experience or qualifications are, which Upston said brought translation requirements in line with Australia.

She said certification had been an extra cost for those applying to visit New Zealand in documents not written in English, and was particularly relevant for the Chinese market.

“We have removed that barrier.”

Andrew Wilson, chief executive of tourism promotion agency RotoruaNZ, said it was “another really positive” move.

“We’re pretty happy to see anything that removes a bit of friction, particularly for … Chinese and Indian visitors.”

He said it was an important market for Rotorua and was looking forward to seeing the impact of the change.

An Immigration New Zealand statement said it would come into effect on May 26.

Applicants must still provide translations for all supporting documents and the translation cannot be done by the applicant, a family member or their immigration adviser on the application.

The requirement to provide a certified English translation for supporting visa documents was introduced last June to speed up processing.

Luxon told industry leaders in Rotorua that he and the Government were committed to growing tourism, the country’s second-largest export.

He said the country was at a “pivotal moment” and bold, decisive action was needed to “reignite our tourism industry and propel it back to the heights of 2019 and beyond”.

Luxon noted investment into tourism including $13 million given to Tourism New Zealand for marketing, and a to-be-launched tourism growth roadmap.

He said it was committed to enhancing airline connectivity, “recognising that it’s the lifeline to strengthening our global ties” to boost tourism and trade.

Work to boost this included with emerging markets like India, he said.

There was capacity for growth, however, with visitors below pre-Covid numbers, and Luxon said there was capability for more premium experiences.

Recent growth had been “good” he said, but “we’re still the middle of the pack in terms of productivity per capita”.

The Government was “obsessed with economic growth” because it meant higher incomes, more money in pockets, more jobs and more public service funding.

Luxon acknowledged Rotorua’s roots in tourism, being the birthplace of the industry in New Zealand.

“Māori women from Rotorua’s local iwi Te Arawa demonstrated fantastic entrepreneurial spirit and we still see it in the sector today.”

The award-winning Rotorua Canopy Tours was recognised for its ecotourism, combining “exhilarating experience” with local conservation.

Luxon said he was looking forward to meeting some of the international buyers attending Trenz.

Around 1200 delegates are attending the two-and-a-half-day programme which started yesterday at the Energy Events Centre with over 340 travel buyers from 26 countries registered.

Upston also shared her ambition in Rotorua to make tourism the number one export as the Government aimed to double overall exports by 2034.

Bringing tourism numbers back to 2019 levels was key for that, she said, but this needed to happen alongside preserving the “unique way” visitors were welcomed and cared for.

A second priority was to grow the 200,000 sector jobs.

“I’m really excited for the potential for how we grow that.”

Upston said tourism wouldn’t be what it is without local government and thanked the region’s mayors for attending.

Other speakers included Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram and Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran.

Ingram said the industry generated $44 billion in the year to March.

She said 1 in 10 jobs relate to tourism and the industry was mostly made up of small businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

In terms of market diversity she said the United States were the “star performer”, China was growing and Australia remained the bedrock.

Business growth appeared to be the focus for many in the industry, she said.

For New Zealand to compete globally, it needed to invest and evolve.

This year’s Trenz event had 40 new products and 20 new sellers.

Travellers were also changing and travel was recently found to be among the top 25 uses of AI, Ingram said.

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