File photo. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
A new vision for the tourism industry aims to explore low-carbon aviation fuel and more collaboration with local communities.
The draft Tourism Environment Action Plan was launched on Friday by Tourism Minister Peeni Henare at an Air New Zealand hosted event in Auckland.
He also announced the government is investing $765,000 to co-fund two feasibility studies with Air New Zealand to investigate setting up sustainable aviation fuel production in Aotearoa.
The draft plan has six proposed focus areas, including decarbonisation of tourism to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, championing biodiversity, and boosting technology and innovation that help operators become more regenerative.
It also considers closers collaboration between tourism operators and communities, and supporting regenerative tourism projects.
Tourism Minister Peeni Henare said the country had a critical window of opportunity to become a global leader in adopting regenerative practices.
He encouraged people to give their feedback during public consultation.
"A draft Tourism Environment Action Plan launched today for public consultation sets out actions to further shift the tourism industry to a regenerative model that gives back more than it takes," Henare said.
"The draft action plan is bold and ambitious - and it needs to be."
It's the second phase in the tourism industry's transformation plan and it was created through collaboration between the industry, Māori, government and unions.
"A key action is investment in finding low-carbon fuel options," Henare said.
"Today we announced we will co-fund the next stage of feasibility studies into local production of sustainable aviation fuel, in partnership with Air New Zealand.
"If successful, this will build tourism's resilience and rapidly accelerate Aotearoa's energy transition."
Tourism Minister Peeni Henare Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The country currently operated on a import only model, and since November, airlines had received three batches of bad jet fuel.
It was currently the most viable option for reducing carbon emissions from aviation, which make up about 60 percent of tourism's total emissions," he said.
Air New Zealand has committed more than $1.5 million towards the feasibility studies.
Chief sustainability officer Kiri Hannifin said sustainable aviation fuel was in very high demand but limited supply.
"Commercially producing it in locally would not only help lower the country's emissions and create jobs, but also provide fuel security in New Zealand," Kiri Hannifin said.
One of the studies will be run by Fulcrum BioEnergy, in partnership with Air BP, to investigate using landfill waste and unrecyclables as a feedstock.
The second study will look at using forestry residues as the feedstock and landfill waste as a supplementary supply.
It will be delivered by LanzaTech and LanzaJet, in partnership with Z Energy.
A Memorandum of Understanding to work together and deliver the studies has been signed by Air New Zealand, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Ministry for Primary Industries, Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport, Te Taurapa Tūhono New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and the Ministry for the Environment.
Submissions for draft Tourism Environment Action Plan will remain open until July 14, with a final plan expected to be release by the end of the year.