One of BYATA's most important roles is advocacy. Much of that work happens behind the scenes, often over long timeframes, but it remains critical to ensuring the interests of our members are represented when decisions affecting tourism are being made.

Over the past year, we have engaged across a range of issues including working holiday visas, workforce challenges, tourism planning, local government reform and the future of the International Visitor Levy. However, the largest and most important piece of advocacy work has been our involvement in discussions around the New Zealand Tourism Policy Statement, or TPS.

From the beginning, our goal was clear. We wanted to ensure that backpacker, youth and adventure tourism was recognised as a vital component of New Zealand's visitor economy. Our sector drives regional dispersal, supports local employment, generates significant visitor spend and delivers the authentic experiences New Zealand is known for.

Heading into the TPS workshops and consultation sessions, we had three primary objectives.

1. Ensuring our sector was visible. We wanted policy makers to understand that youth travellers, backpackers, working holiday makers and adventure visitors are not niche segments. They are a foundational part of New Zealand tourism.
2. Ensuring future tourism policy supports commercially sustainable businesses. Our members need an operating environment that enables investment, growth and innovation while supporting responsible tourism outcomes.
3. We advocated for better alignment between central government, local government and industry. Too often tourism operates within a fragmented framework. We supported efforts to provide greater clarity around roles, responsibilities and investment priorities.

Alongside this work, BYATA continued advocating for Working Holiday Visa growth and settings that make New Zealand an attractive destination. Working holiday makers remain one of the most important markets for many of our members. They are both visitors and workforce participants, making a unique contribution to the tourism ecosystem.

Another important area of advocacy has been Tourism New Zealand funding. BYATA has consistently advocated for increased and sustained funding for TNZ through baseline government investment. We have argued that a world-class tourism industry requires a well-funded international marketing agency and that long-term destination marketing should not rely on a pattern of reduced baseline budgets followed by periodic top-ups from the International Visitor Levy. Consistent funding supports long-term planning, market development and demand growth for our members.

We also made submissions on wider policy issues, including local government reform, ensuring tourism remains recognised as an enabling economic activity and that tourism infrastructure and destination management continue to receive appropriate consideration.

Looking ahead, one of the most immediate opportunities for advocacy is the future of the International Visitor Levy. BYATA has been invited to participate in workshops and provide feedback on future IVL settings.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed feedback throughout the year. Effective advocacy depends on member engagement, and the strength of our voice comes directly from the quality of the perspectives you share.

Key Headlines

• Tourism Policy Statement (TPS) engagement was our largest advocacy focus this year.
• We advocated for stronger recognition of backpacker, youth and adventure tourism within national tourism policy.
• We continued push for Working Holiday Visa settings that support both visitor growth and workforce needs.
• We advocated for Tourism New Zealand to receive increased and sustained baseline funding, rather than relying on a cycle of annual budget reductions followed by periodic top-ups from the International Visitor Levy.
• We contributed to discussions on local government reform and tourism's role in regional economic development
• Also gave feedback to TIA around 2050

TNZ / International Youth Holiday Arrivals are leading Tourisms recovery with 32% of total arrivals in last financial year.

These contributed $2.5Billion to NZs economy…

Int Youth contributed strongly to activities outside general leisure holidays such as Conference and Business Events

TIA said, we will need 100,000 workers in the next 10 years to be able to serve the growth trajectory. That works for metro areas but where we have low population bases in regional NZ that will be a challenge… and that’s where WHV become essential to achieving this goal.