Hotel operator responds to visitor levy funding announcement

The operator of a large hotel chain in New Zealand says diverting a portion of International Visitor Levy funds to councils is a good first step. If re-elected, the National Party is pledging to allocate $385 million over four years to councils, the portion each council gets will depend on the number of international visitors they host. Councils would have to use the money for things like events, tourism promotion, and visitor infrastructure. The announcement was made at Auckland's Sudima Hotel yesterday, after criticism from mayors over National's u-turn on investigating an accommodation levy in 2027. The hotel's New Zealand operating officer Les Morgan was at that announcement, and spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.