The TSS is a new survey run twice a year to capture New Zealanders’ views on tourism, with this inaugural release presenting findings from Wave 1 post summer 2025/26. It measures how New Zealanders feel about tourism, including its impacts, attitudes to growth, and engagement. It uses both overall and detailed measures for regional and destination insights.
Explore the Tourism Sentiment Survey
Dive into the full Tourism Sentiment Survey results and interactive charts.
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Key findings
- Overall, the TSS shows strong support for tourism and its economic benefits, but ongoing local environmental and community pressures, with views varying by region.
- Tourism is widely supported nationally (91%), driven by strong perceived economic (95%) and community benefits (86%).
- Environmental and community downsides remain (83% and 81%), and domestic tourism is viewed more positively than international.
- Most regions see tourism as beneficial (86%, over 90% in some regions), but views on visitor levels are mixed, with some saying too few and around a quarter in Tasman and Otago too many.
- New Zealanders engage with tourism but feel they lack a voice, 80%+ feel they haven’t had input, and 27% want more (especially tourism workers and Māori).
Looking ahead
The next release will include Wave 2 post-winter 2026 survey results. We plan to release the Wave 2 results in December 2026.
