Tourism Data Leadership Group initial report

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini

My success is not mine alone, it is the success of the collective.

Executive summary

The Tourism Data Leadership Group (TDLG) has been given a significant strategic opportunity and a critical initial task.

The Tourism Data Leadership Group (TDLG) has been given a significant strategic opportunity and a critical initial task. The strategic opportunity is to create a consistent, reliable, and trusted tourism data system that meets the information needs of a diverse set of tourism data users and delivers wide benefits for Aotearoa New Zealand. This is a vision to be achieved over the next three to five years.

The way tourism happens and is managed is rapidly evolving globally. TDLG firmly believes that good data can be a catalyst for change. We want tourism in Aotearoa New Zealand to be mana-enhancing and data can be used to ensure tourism is making a positive contribution.

The critical first task allocated to the TDLG is to identify the elements of the tourism data system that need immediate attention and investment. $5 million has been allocated from the International Visitor Levy to support this initial work programme and sector contributions will be sought in terms of co-funding, provision of data, or in-kind capacity for use by the TDLG.

This Initial Report is an output from our first 6 months of discussions and deliberations. It covers the wider strategic tourism context, the specific strategic approach adopted by the TDLG, a stocktake of the current data provision, a Te Ao Māori perspective, an assessment of the key issues and opportunities, an analysis of the diverse needs of different user groups, and an initial package of initiatives to pursue.

The TDLG recommends improving the quality and usefulness of existing tourism data sets, developing new data sets, and bundling together regional tourism indicators. The TDLG also recommends investigating ways of measuring the full impact of tourism activities and designing a data capability-raising programme for tourism stakeholders. A more detailed list of the TDLG’s recommendations can be found below (Table 1 in the report).

The TDLG looks forward to receiving feedback on this Initial Report and making progress on the recommended package of proposed initiatives in 2023.

The TDLG's recommendations