Judith Tizard speech to EVANZ
Keynote Speech for Entertainment Venues Association of New Zealand (EVANZ)
Introduction - Importance of Arts,
Culture and Heritage to NZ
Good morning. I am pleased
that the Minister of Tourism, Hon Mark Burton, has given me
the opportunity to deliver this speech on his behalf,
because entertainment venues not only contribute
significantly to this country's tourism industry-they
literally provide important stages for our arts and culture
to be displayed.
As the Associate Minister for Arts
and Culture, opportunities for our art and culture to be
expressed are near and dear to my heart.
The
government has done a lot of work in the arts, culture and
heritage area over the past three years, because we believe
the sector is important for three main reasons [Outline
those reasons].
We inherited a sector in which some
of our leading cultural institutions were in financial
crisis.
In May 2000, we put in place the Cultural
Recovery Package, to provide financial stability for our
major arts institutions and organisations such as the NZSO,
the Royal NZ Ballet, Te Papa; and also to enable arts
agencies such as Creative New Zealand to do more work in
professional arts development and regional development; and
to enable the Historic Places Trust to do more work in
cultural heritage preservation.
As a nation we now
recognise the important place of arts and culture in our
lives. There is a new spirit of optimism, confidence and
energy. Key areas of the arts and cultural sector are
reporting bigger audiences, greater ability to undertake new
initiatives and more confidence in planning for the future.
The cultural sector is performing well in
contributing to GDP and employment.
The results of
the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report
Creative Industries in New Zealand: Economic contribution
commissioned by Industry New Zealand show that the creative
sector is growing faster than the rest of the
economy.
Thankfully we're not alone in our commitment
to the arts and to the cultural wellbeing of New Zealanders.
Strategic partnerships are hugely important in the arts.
North Harbour Stadium
This Stadium is a great
example of how strategic partnerships can produce a
community asset that is vital both for sporting and
entertainment events.
North Harbour Stadium has been
the scene of many incredible sporting events. One example
this year was the historic 1-0 win by the New Zealand soccer
team over the Australians to win the Oceania Nations Cup and
to qualify for the upcoming Confederations Cup 2003 in
France.
The Football Kingz have also put in some good
performances here, and I look forward to the day when they
can emulate the New Zealand Warriors by dominating an
Australian professional league.
At the same time,
there have been many successful arts and cultural events
here. There was the Classical Spectacular that opened the
Stadium, and concerts by The Corrs, Cliff Richard and Olivia
Newton-John. And Alan Smythe's dazzling presentations of
Bizet's Carmen and Verdi's La Traviata. It has filled an
important gap in Auckland's entertainment map.
Tourism - The effects of September 11th.
Until
September of last year, when my colleague Mark Burton spoke
with tourism audiences, he was able to be openly and
unreservedly positive about New Zealand's tourism industry.
New Zealand's performance and growth were impressive,
numbers were headed towards an all-time high, and the
industry's potential seemed almost limitless.
Then,
overnight, the events of September 11 changed that outlook
completely. The world looked set to stay at home. Combined
with the uncertainty surrounding the future of Air New
Zealand, the immediate picture potentially looked pretty
bleak.
At the time, some people were even predicting
that the tourism markets might never fully recover. New
Zealand certainly did suffer a downturn along with the rest
of the world. In the last quarter of 2001, visitor arrivals
were significantly down, and no one really knew what 2002
would bring.
It was an uncertain time throughout the
sector. But a lot can happen in a year. By January, unlike
most other global destinations, we were back onto a growth
path.
Our visitor numbers and expenditure have
remained positive throughout 2002; with only a small dip in
the days running up to September 11, when it was inevitable
that many travellers would be cautious about the first
anniversary of those terrible events.
All in all, it's
an enviable position to be in, particularly when compared to
our trans-Tasman neighbours.
Australian Tourism
figures
In September, the annual Australia/New Zealand
Tourism Ministers Council meeting was held in Auckland.
Although New Zealand was reporting a very positive outlook,
the Australian market still looks relatively
grim.
Visitor arrivals to Australia are down nearly 10
percent for the year.
The events of September 11,
combined with a weak global economy and the collapse of
Ansett Australia, have cost Australia around $2 billion in
inbound tourism income and up to 12,000 jobs.
In
contrast, however, our story couldn't be more different. In
the first six months of 2002, international arrivals
increased by almost 5%. Visitor days were up almost 14% and
visitor expenditure was up almost 15%. Australia is
beginning to look to New Zealand as an example of best
practice.
I certainly don't make these comparisons in
order to gloat. On the contrary - there is no room for
complacency or arrogance. But I do use them to illustrate,
at least in part, the very tangible benefits of New Zealand
being able to mobilise swift, well-coordinated crisis
management.
New Zealand tourism sector - effective
crisis management
In the period immediately following
September 11, key tourism sector representatives worked
tirelessly with the Government, under the co-ordination of
Tourism New Zealand, to carefully promote New Zealand's
global reputation as a safe, friendly tourism destination.
This collaboration was also critical in ensuring that
consistent, calm assessment of the emerging domestic and
international situation was communicated.
Because we
had already collectively worked together, particularly on
the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010, we were able to
employ an effective, efficient use of resources in a time of
serious challenge.
Tourism Strategy 2010
Our
recovery following September 11 is not the only area in
which we have the jump on Australia. The Commonwealth
government is currently in the process of developing a
10-year plan for the Australian tourism industry. Many of
you will be aware of the progress that has been made in the
implementation of our own Tourism Strategy 2010 since its
launch in May last year.
One of the key principles
underpinning the Strategy is that of public/private
commitment. It was clearly recognised that there was a need
to develop stronger and more effective partnerships between
the public and private sector. In other words, we all need
to work together to make this strategy work.
If all
the tourism players work together, it will mean a more
effective and efficient use of resources, and it will also
drive a more co-ordinated approach to ensure that we achieve
sustainability.
As such, it is important to re-iterate
that the Strategy belongs to the entire tourism industry, of
which you are all a crucial part. Its success relies on
everyone in the tourism industry adopting aspects of the
Strategy that are relevant to them. We all stand to benefit
from a tourism industry that is economically,
environmentally and socially sustainable, and the Strategy
provides us with a set of guidelines to help us achieve
that.
The Government has already implemented a range
of initiatives in response to the Strategy. You should all
be aware by now of the establishment of the Ministry of
Tourism, and of the funds granted to VIN and Qualmark so I
won't labour the point.
I note that later today you
have a programmed session about Qualmark. This Government
wants to see the continued provision of quality tourism
product and wants tourists to have some way of knowing that
they will be receiving a quality experience from New Zealand
operators. We believe that Qualmark will assist us to
achieve these aims.
It was this that led us to invest
$2.5million over the next three years in upgrading the
Qualmark product. I encourage you to talk with the people at
Qualmark and to consider the advantages of
participating.
Government's Research
Investment
It is vital that our tourism industry seeks
to invest in its future growth through the development of
knowledge and intelligence.
We set up the Tourism
Research Council New Zealand two years ago, in partnership
with industry, to provide credible, authoritative and
integrated tourism research, information and forecasting.
Research is vital to the business of operators. The
work of the Tourism Research Council is enabling the
resources the Government commits to research to be tailored
to meet the industry's specific requirements - adding value
to the core data collections, adding value to tourism
operations, and ultimately adding value to the experience of
each and every visitor to our country.
I encourage you
to utilise the tourism core data-set to maximise your
business and service performance.
Where is tourism in
New Zealand going?
There is good news in the latest
tourism forecast results released by the Tourism Research
Council last month. The figures show that international
visitor arrivals will increase by 6% per year to 2008. Even
better news is that those visitors will stay longer and
spend more.
In the domestic market, which is "the
bread and butter" for a lot of tourism operators, we can
look forward to steady growth of 22% in domestic spend by
2008. But it seems as though even greater rewards may be
gained from the international market where we can expect
expenditure to increase by 72% in the same timeframe.
Government Activity
Looking forward, the focus
is now on developing a strategic plan so that we can tackle
some of the weightier aspects of the Tourism Strategy.
We as a government are acutely aware that, in regards
to the Strategy, not only does progress need to be made, it
needs to be seen being made. With this in mind, my
colleague, Pete Hodgson, has asked the Ministry of Tourism
to demonstrate the progress being made in addressing the
challenges laid down by the Strategy.
More than at any
time in the recent past, the government's tourism agencies,
the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism New Zealand understand
their role in the sector.
Each is committed to
working together and with other stakeholders to add value to
the sector. It is some time since we have been so well
positioned.
Over the next three years, the government
will work to ensure that we realise the potential of this
productive environment to maximise the benefits to the
sector.
Infrastructure
I know infrastructure is a
key issue that concerns you. More visitors means more demand
- on our roads, on our environment, on our communities, on
regional and local infrastructure.
These demands
aren't peculiar to the tourism industry. We've seen the same
sorts of demands forecast by growth in the wood-processing
sector.
In some cases, local authorities consider
they are unable to develop and maintain infrastructure to
support the demands of residents, local industries and
visitors. We need an integrated approach and we'll be
working to develop a co-ordinated central government policy
on regional infrastructure needs.
To begin with, we
will take a good look at our current situation in order to
identify very clearly what infrastructure we've got, what it
costs to maintain and replace, who uses it, and what we need
to meet our future economic development and population
needs.
This has already begun in some regions through
the Regional Partnerships Programme.
We all know that
we have a lot going for us - a high-quality, diverse natural
environment, the uniqueness of our indigenous Maori culture
and our multicultural population, a vibrant, sophisticated
New Zealand heritage, and the reputation of our friendly,
warm people.
It is these attributes that our
international visitors seek to interact with during their
New Zealand experience. It is of paramount importance that
these qualities are not compromised or allowed to degrade in
any way as we continue to develop our industry.
While
we are all impressed with the growth in international
visitor arrivals, encouraging more visitors in peak season
places greater pressure on our natural, built, cultural and
social environment. Increasing visitor numbers is important,
but it is just as important to encourage those visitors to
visit at different times of the year, to stay longer, to
spend more and to experience a wider range of products. I
believe that this will be your biggest challenge over the
next few years and I ask you to give consideration to how
you can best meet it.
The Importance of Cultural
Tourism
Cultural tourism is increasingly being
recognised as playing an important role in the tourism and
creative industries, as much as New Zealand's obvious
attractions of clean air, scenic beauty and adventure
activities.
The New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010
specifically mentions cultural tourism, which it defines as
"those cultural dimensions that enable more depth of
interaction with, and understanding of, our people, place
and cultural identity".
The Strategy identifies
cultural tourism as an area needing assistance to reach its
potential.
The government has allocated $220,000 in
the 2002-2003 year for new research into the development of
cultural tourism, to investigate the demand for cultural
tourism products and identify the gaps in supply of cultural
tourism products and services.
Which brings me back to
the beginning: I outlined to you the Government's major
investment in the cultural recovery of New Zealand's arts,
culture and heritage.
I want to tell you about one
initiative that has sprung from the Cultural Recovery
Package that has direct cultural tourism benefits.
With Cultural Recovery funds, Creative New Zealand set up several strategies for professional arts development - one was the Seriously Maori Strategy. Under this strategy, Creative New Zealand's Maori Arts board Te Waka Toi developed the Toi Iho Maori Made Mark. It is a first step to protect the cultural and intellectual property of artists in New Zealand.
Assurances of authenticity and quality
have been lacking in the tourism industry for many years;
the Toi Iho Maori made mark provides this to New Zealanders
and visitors from overseas.
The mark allows tourists
and visitors to distinguish genuine products by the swing
tags, labels and stickers. It has given local artists a
greater incentive to produce high-quality works and command
a premium price.
The first round of Toi Iho
recipients was announced a few months ago. Art-forms that
the successful applicants use include weaving, carving,
jewellery, Ta Moko, music, graphic design, architecture and
corporate embellishment, print-making and multimedia.
It's exciting for Maori artists, and for Pakeha
artists who work with Maori artists and designs. It's
exciting for visitors looking for a genuine New Zealand
experience.
One more thing I'll quickly mention is
the website ESSNZ.com. This website brings together hundreds
of New Zealand arts and cultural experiences and events that
are happening during the Louis Vuitton and America's Cup
racing season. It's just one of the outcomes of the
Government's leveraging funding, which Pete Hodgson has been
at the helm of. If you have an event at your venue during
this racing season, make sure it's on that website: www.essnz.com
I have
appreciated the opportunity to speak to you this morning and
I wish you all a successful final day at this conference and
every success in the future.
Thank
You