🇳🇿
I think NZ will be better for fewer international tourists. Settlements and establishments that exist only to serve tourists, without a non-tourist purpose feel hollow and inauthentic to me (both as a local and a tourist). Interesting tourists - the ones I want to interact with as a local - are ones who come to see how NZ works and how we live, not just a scripted, sterile sightseeing tour.
Let's rebuild NZ as a place where each settlement has a purpose that's sustainable without overseas tourists. In the long run, especially after folks realise our 100% pure brand is purely aspirational, it'll make our tourism more compelling regardless. And it'll give locals an interest in making that brand a reality.
@lwriemen the situation is far more complex than that, of course, but I there's a whole lot of past injustice that needs to be redressed.