Day 8: Tourism Industry Aotearoa

Today we got to meet with Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA). They are a cooperation similar to a trust in which members are given valuable information regarding tourism in their sector. Specifically, TIA noticed a gap in their 2025 tourism plan (designed in 2014): the plan had no mention of sustainability! So, they have since created sustainability goals across 4 areas in tourism: Economic, Visitor, Community, and Environment. Tourism is quite lucrative for New Zealand, and thus Economic value is important to TIA. TIA supports green innovation investing in clean resources from the get go and looking at the longevity of products, not just their short-term use. This way they can help businesses become not only more cost-effective by using resources effectively, but they are also implementing more sustainable practices. Next, happy Visitors lead to more success, so TIA encourages members to striver for visitor satisfaction and engagement, and promote cultural heritage. New Zealand’s Maori culture is unique and valuable, creating a draw for tourists. Plus, TIA notes that tourism is not only beneficial to the visitors, but to the Community at home. New Zealanders gain employment through direct work in the industry, as a supplier, and more. Finally, even the environment stands to gain from tourism. New Zealand has a very unique ecosystem and part of TIA’s initiative is restoring this biodiversity through the help of visitors. We experienced this feature ourselves by planting trees on Waiheke island! It is indeed a special experience unlike most any tours in the US. Planting trees was not only fun but enriching in that we learned to love and care for New Zealand wildlife. There are other environmental impacts of tourism, however, and not all are beneficial. Tourism involves plenty of waste (tiny soap/shampoo bottles or endless takeout containers, to name a few), and air travel emits large levels of carbon. That being said, TIA is taking steps to reduce waste and carbon emissions by encouraging and guiding small businesses to do their part in being more green. They have realized that many businesses are open to the idea of being more sustainable, they just don’t know where to begin! Overall, we have seen again that sustainability impacts many sectors across any field, so it is indeed a complex challenge, but organizations like TIA can help pave the way to a greater tomorrow.