Are backpackers really less valuable to New Zealand than those with more money | Anthony Gardiner

Value over volume' doesn't take into account the benefits of young tourists, which includes working while they're here

Kiwis have a long history of welcoming guests and sharing what we love about our country. So it was perhaps no surprise that recent comments from New Zealand's new minister of tourism, Stuart Nash, have elicited such passionate debate amongst locals and the industry.

Speaking at a summit hosted by the Tourism Industry Aotearoa, Nash said the future of the New Zealand tourism industry is high-net-worth visitors who spend more while they are here. To show his intent in this area Nash also said he would like to ban the hire of non-self-contained vans to tourists to stop Freedom Campers" - a specific subset of backpackers who sleep in their vehicle wherever the fancy takes them, as opposed to paying a few dollars for a campsite with amenities such as bathrooms.