Clean government essential for New Zealand tourism, researchers warn

The honesty of government is a bigger impact on tourist numbers in New Zealand than natural disasters or economic crises, according to a study out Wednesday.

And New Zealand's fall in an international corruption index could put the country's status as a tourism destination at risk, according to the New Zealand and Omani researchers.

The study looked at data outside the usual standard determinants, such as per capita incomes, relative prices, exchange rates and transport costs, from New Zealand's 24 main visitor origin countries.

While events such as the Global Financial Crisis or the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 were statistically insignificant on visitor numbers, good governance had a positive effect, Lincoln University marketing researcher Michael Clemes said in a statement.

Governance was the capacity of a government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies as well as the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that governed economic and social interactions, such as law and order, and property rights.

It also covered how they achieve it whether it was with low corruption and cronyism, and civic responsibility.

The findings suggested the New Zealand government should continuously support its institutions involved in upholding the rule of law, law enforcement, suppressing corruption and continuously improving governance.

New Zealand fell from second to fourth place out of 168 nations and territories in the 2015 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the second consecutive drop in a survey it had previously topped seven times.

"This deterioration in one of the core dimensions that contributes to good governance may send the wrong signals to international visitors and may deter their visits," said Clemes.

Tourism overtook the dairy sector as New Zealand's biggest export earner last year. Endit