23 December 2004 Help Keep Great Kiwi Summer Holiday Alive and Sustainable says Tourism Professor

New Zealanders travelling around the country this holiday season may notice some subtle changes as destinations try to balance the economic benefits of visitors with the care, protection and enhancement of the environment, says Lincoln University's Professor of Tourism, David Simmons.

Tourism destinations are becoming increasingly switched on to the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010 vision of a sustainable tourism market, says Professor Simmons.

"The landmark international Green Globe certification of Kaikoura in September illustrates what we are now talking about.

"As Tourism Minister Mark Burton said at the ceremony for the award of the certification, Kaikoura is the embodiment of New Zealand Tourism's vision of a truly sustainable tourism market – one that balances tourism's obvious economic benefits with the care, protection and, wherever possible, the enhancement of the natural and cultural environments of New Zealand."

Professor Simmons says that the changes people will notice in Kaikoura and elsewhere as other destinations pick up the momentum, are in areas such as energy conservation, waste management and minimisation, recycling, tree planting as a contribution to off-setting carbon use, and a general go easy on the environment attitude of tourism operators.

"Environment Canterbury (ECAN) were big supporters of Kaikoura's initiatives and their involvement now provides an example for other regional councils to follow.

"New Zealanders are now developing an environmentally minded approach to tourism and one of its big domestic sub-sets – the annual Kiwi holidaymaking that happens in December and January," says Professor Simmons.

"There's no holiday for the environment at this time of the year, in fact it comes under intense pressure, but with care and attention it will survive to provide a sustainable basis for the great Kiwi summer holiday to stay alive and well."