Proposed targeted tourism rate meets local resistance
Many little businesses likely to be liable under the proposed targeted tourism rate won’t benefit from the marketing it would pay for, the Golden Bay Community Board was told at its monthly meeting this week.
Dianne and Harry Holmwood spoke in public forum about the proposed targeted tourism rate. They stayed in the meeting to contribute to the board’s discussion later. TDC has proposed a two-tier rate for businesses that directly and indirectly benefit from tourism. The money gathered by the targeted rate would be applied to destination marketing by Nelson Tasman Tourism (NTT) to attract visitors to the region.
“Our machinery museum at Patons Rock is like a hobby,” said Mr Holmwood. “The resource consent cost $30,000 and our income last year was about $1,800. We’ve been told that we’re a tier-one business, so we’d be liable for a targeted rate of $322. That’s ridiculous. When a targeted rate goes on, it hardly ever gets taken off or reduced. The problem has arisen because the tourism body was set up with seeding money from central Government and then handed over to the local authorities. Now they’re trapped.”
Mrs Holmwood said, “NTT should come back to us and show how what they do increases tourism over here. Little businesses like ours shouldn’t be made to contribute the same amount as the major players.”
Cr Stuart Borlase explained that TDC, as half-owner of NTT, wanted to cap its contribution from the general rate at $309,000.
“That will fund the running of the i-Sites,” he said, “But we keep getting asked for more by NTT. Other industries in our region that are just as successful as tourism go about their business without council money. The killer is the extra $100,000 NTT asked for to fund the destination marketing. People might have bought into a rate to make up the extra $81,000, but $181,000 is too much all at once. The idea of the targeted rate has been around for eight months but NTT only came to Golden Bay last Wednesday to explain it. Why weren’t they getting people on-side earlier?”
Mr Bell asked whether there might be support for trimming the required amount back by $100,000 to $81,000 (the difference between what TDC wanted to cap their contributions at and the sum originally required by NTT).
“Then the figure could perhaps be split 50/50 between all the tourism businesses, as identified, and the general rate,” he said.
Board member Karen Brookes attended last Wednesday’s meeting. She had sympathy for “tiny” tourism operations, like people who offer garden tours, that might be caught in the targeted rate net. “They say they don’t see any effect of NTT’s efforts,” she said.
Board member Carolyn McLellan said, “The increasing use of targeted rates is divisive. It’s one sector against another. NTT has not consulted with its members. Once again the significance policy should be triggered. Don’t do it until everyone has been consulted and it’s been done properly. Don’t impose things on people. TDC shouldn’t be in the business of collecting NTT’s subs; they should be accountable to the tourism operators.”
Neil Wilson
