Tourists crowd in for a selfie at Punakaiki on the West Coast. Photo: 123RF
A major report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warns tourism – both domestic and international - is putting the country under major pressure and eroding the very attributes that make New Zealand such a draw card.
The report says international visitor numbers could reach 10-13 million a year by 2050.
Simon Upton says this, plus local tourism, places a myriad of pressures on the environment including loss of natural quiet, water quality degradation, solid waste generation and management, biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions.
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