This financial year’s investment also includes $6m for emerging markets such as India and Southeast Asia, $3m to increase the number of business events hosted in New Zealand and an additional $5m for a fund supporting major events here. Another $3.5m will go towards projects yet to be announced.
Upston said the Government wanted to welcome more visitors to New Zealand and help improve regional communities’ capacity to look after them.
“The Government must work with industry to unlock the full potential of our tourism sector, and the roadmap lays out initiatives and investments to ensure our infrastructure, workforce and communities can support further growth,” she said.
While recent tourism funding announcements have been about increasing demand, Upston said that as those higher numbers of arrivals become established, the focus will shift to “supporting communities to look after them well”.
In a speech this evening to a Business Events Industry Aotearoa event, Upston said boosting tourism in New Zealand also required action on the supply side. She has asked her officials to review the tourism system to support this.
“Tourism has the potential to become our biggest export earner,” she said. “We’ve done it before, and I believe we can do it again. It will take significant effort from us all, and the industry is united with shared purpose, aspirations, and enthusiasm.”
The roadmap identifies areas of work on tourism “supply” in the medium term – from 2026 to 2029 – such as improving mixed-use tourism infrastructure, the visitor experience, aviation and cruise connectivity, and the workforce.
Long-term objectives include ensuring “regions and communities are set up to manage and invest in the tourism system”, “visitors can access high-quality tourism and hospitality experiences and accommodation” and there is an “increased skilled domestic tourism and hospital workforce”.
The announcement yesterday of $13.5m in international tourism marketing said it was expected to result in about 72,000 additional visitors to New Zealand and $300m in spending.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.