Pristine, popular... imperilled? The environmental consequences of projected tourism growth

^{Tongariro Crossing, Andrea Schaffer, Flickr}

This report addresses the environmental and cultural impacts of tourism and what ongoing business-as-usual growth could mean for the environment and the vulnerability of the tourism sector.

The Commissioner warns that increasing numbers of tourists – both domestic and international – are putting our environment under pressure and eroding the very attributes that make Aotearoa New Zealand such an attractive country to visit.

The report examines the role successive governments have played in both supporting and regulating the tourism industry and looks at how the industry – and the environmental pressures it generates – could evolve in the future.

It finds that, despite a longstanding emphasis on sustainability, the existing policy mix is unlikely to prevent a worsening of tourism’s environmental burden, and that a different approach will be needed to head off that future.

The Commissioner has decided not to make recommendations at this stage but is instead planning to gauge feedback on whether this report identifies and understands some of the key challenges, then follow up with a second report.