Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon says New Zealand needs to start charging tourists more.
In a wide ranging interview on Q+A last night Mr Luxon, who is also head of the Government’s Business Advisory Group, talked of the need to ensure that New Zealand becomes the next Switzerland and not Cancun.
He says as good as the growth has been in tourism, there is an opportunity to get more value and we “absolutely should charge more."
Mr Luxon said New Zealand has to value tourism in the right way and build richer, premium experiences, which people may pay a lot for.
He says there’s about $9 billion to be added into the tourism industry if the country can get itself from mid-table in the developed countries, to the top ten per cent.
CEO Christopher Luxon said MP Shane Jones’ criticism of AirNZ regional services were not “particularly helpful or constructive”.
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