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DoC Must Get Out of Tourism

DoC Must Get Out of Tourism


Monday 11 Nov 2002 Gerry Eckhoff Press Releases -- Environment & Conservation

The Department of Conservation appears to be attempting to set New Zealand's economic policy, ACT Tourism Spokesman Gerry Eckhoff said today.

"Capping tourist numbers is the Department's most recent example of economic wizardry. At a time when New Zealand's relative or perceived security is increasingly attractive to tourists, DoC bureaucrats want to place restrictions on this huge industry.

"It is inconceivable that tourists, desperate to spend dollars in New Zealand, should be subjected to DoC's extremist economic policies. The Department doesn't want growth yet New Zealand desperately needs a greatly increased income to provide for health and education.

"DoC has no place in the tourism industry. Private providers are capable of handling large numbers of eager tourists, if impediments such as the Resource Management Act and public control of wilderness areas can be set aside. We need more walking tracks and ease of access to these areas.

"Just as the old state-owned Tourist Hotel Corporation proved inadequate to meet the demands of tourism, so too is DoC finding it can't cope.

"The Department of Conservation has no place setting caps for tourist numbers. The Government is in effect knee-capping the industry at a time when world events have made our country very attractive to foreign tourists," Mr Eckhoff said.

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.


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