Travel tax to rise, spread

By Georgina Bailey
Copyright 1998 Wellington Evening Post
Reprinted with permission
Article date: February 11, 1998
 

Departure charges at New Zealand airports may increase - and arrival charges may be imposed - for international travel.

From January 1 next year, the Government plans to collect the full amount it costs to carry out quarantine, Customs and immigration checks at the border.

Under current charges, only 15 percent of the $ 31.67 million it will cost for checks in 1997-98 will be recovered. Under the new plan, the Government would recover 100 percent.

Checks on passengers, planes and ships are also expected to be charged.

Wellington International Airport chief executive Don Huse said there was still a consultation process to go through, but it was likely that the charges would have to be passed on to passengers. This could have a significant impact on the country's
international tourism industry.

He said recovery of the costs could be either through departure and arrival fees or by charging airlines more for using the airport. Airlines could, in turn pass the costs on to passengers.

Wellington's departure fee for international travellers is $ 25.

Mr Huse said deciding to charge passengers meant making an assumption that there were only private benefits to them in arriving or departing the country, when this was debatable. "There is a very strong argument that there is a public benefit."

Quarantine, Customs and Immigration officials will meet airport and port authorities later this month to discuss how the money should be collected.

Key players in the tourism sector are expected to be included in the talks, which will begin on February 23 and focus on how the Cabinet decision should be carried out. The officials have been told to report back to the Cabinet by March 20.

Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports have not previously paid for Customs and agriculture border checks.

Reproduced by permission of the Evening Post, Wellington, New Zealand
 

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