Tourism Industry Aotearoa urges use of GST to fund local government tourism activities

Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) urged (09-Apr-2019) the New Zealand Government to provide local governments with a 20% share of the GST paid by international visitors to help fund regional tourism activities and infrastructure. According to the TIA, international visitors pay approximately NZD1.7 billion (USD1.2 billion) of GST p/a. TIA CEO Chris Roberts stated: "The TIA Board has concluded that providing local government with a share of the GST paid by international visitors is the most effective, efficient and fairest approach". [more - original PR]