Minister for Tourism and Hospitality (New Zealand)

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Minister for Tourism and Hospitality
Coat of arms of New Zealand.svg
Flag of New Zealand.svg
Louise Upston (cropped).png
Incumbent
Louise Upston
since 24 January 2025
Tourism New Zealand
Style The Honourable
Member of
Reports to Prime Minister of New Zealand
Appointer Governor-General of New Zealand
Term length At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation6 August 1906
First holderSir Joseph Ward
(as Minister for Tourist and Health Resorts)
Salary$288,900 [1]
Website www.beehive.govt.nz

The Minister for Tourism and Hospitality is a minister in the New Zealand Government appointed by the Prime Minister to be in charge of supporting and promoting tourism and hospitality. The current Minister for Tourism and Hospitality is Louise Upston. [2]

Contents

Background

The office was established in 1906 as the Minister for the Tourist and Health Resort Department. Later, it was known more simply as the Minister for Tourist and Health Resorts. From 1963 to 2023 the portfolio had the single title of Minister of Tourism. A related portfolio, sometimes held alongside the tourism portfolio, was Minister in charge of Publicity.

Historically, the Minister of Tourism held the lowest-ranking position in the cabinet during the 1960s and 1970s, although it was held by senior minister Mike Moore in the mid-1980s, prime minister John Key from 2008 to 2016, and senior ministers Paula Bennett and Kelvin Davis from 2016 to 2020.

Since 2023, the portfolio title has been Minister for Tourism and Hospitality.

Responsibilities

Historically, the Minister was responsible for overseeing the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts which was a separate government department during three distinct periods: 1901 to 1909, 1912 to 1930, and 1945 to 1991. From 1954 the department's name was the Tourist and Publicity Department. Its responsibilities included running government-owned hotels and managing publicly owned scenic assets. [3] Under the now repealed Tourist and Publicity Department Act 1963, the Minister of Tourism had authority to establish and operate travel agencies, arrange and operate group coach tours, and establish and operate tourist services, attractions, amenities, and facilities, although these functions could be delegated to the general manager of the department. [4]

Today, the Minister continues to be responsible for supporting and promoting tourism and hospitality in New Zealand. They are responsible for Tourism New Zealand, which is the Crown entity responsible for marketing New Zealand as a tourist destination. They are the responsible minister for the Freedom Camping Act 2011, which enables local government to regulate freedom camping. The Minister receives administrative and policy support from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

List of ministers

The following ministers have held the office of Minister of Tourism. [5]

Key

   Liberal    Reform    United    Labour    National

No.NamePortraitTerm of OfficePrime Minister
As Minister for Tourist and Health Resorts
1 Joseph Ward Joseph Ward c. 1906.jpg 6 August 19066 January 1909 Ward
2 Thomas Mackenzie Thomas Mackenzie.jpg 6 January 190910 July 1912
Mackenzie
3 Heaton Rhodes Robert Heaton Rhodes Jr (1915).jpg 10 July 191212 August 1915 Massey
4 Robert McNab Robert McNab (1908).jpg 12 August 19153 February 1917
5 William MacDonald William Donald Stuart Macdonald, circa 1910.jpg 17 February 191722 August 1919
6 William Nosworthy William Nosworthy.jpg 4 September 191910 December 1928
Bell
Coates
(1) Joseph Ward Joseph Ward c. 1906.jpg 10 December 192828 May 1930 Ward
7 Philip De La Perrelle Philip De La Perrelle.jpg 28 May 193022 September 1931 Forbes
8 Adam Hamilton Adam Hamilton (1926).jpg 22 September 19316 December 1935
9 Frank Langstone Frank Langstone.jpg 6 December 193521 December 1942 [6] Savage
Fraser
10 Bill Parry Bill Parry.jpg 18 October 194313 December 1949
11 Frederick Doidge Frederick Doidge.jpg 13 December 194913 September 1951 Holland
12 William Bodkin William Bodkin, 1935.jpg 13 September 195126 November 1954
13 Eric Halstead Eric Halstead.jpg 26 November 195423 March 1956
14 Dean Eyre Dean Eyre.jpg 23 March 195612 December 1957
Holyoake
15 John Mathison John Mathison, 1959.jpg 12 December 195712 December 1960 Nash
As Minister of Tourism
16 Tom Shand Tom Shand crop.jpg 12 December 196015 May 1961 Holyoake
(14) Dean Eyre Dean Eyre.jpg 15 May 196112 December 1966
17 Robert Muldoon Muldoon 26 June 1969.jpg 15 February 19674 March 1967
18 David Thomson David Spence Thomson.jpg 4 March 196712 December 1969
19 Bert Walker No image.png 12 December 19698 December 1972
Marshall
20 Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan.jpg 8 December 197212 December 1975 Kirk
Rowling
21 Harry Lapwood No image.png 12 December 197513 December 1978 Muldoon
22 Warren Cooper Warren Cooper 1983.jpg 13 December 197812 February 1981
23 Derek Quigley Derek Quigley.png 12 February 198111 December 1981
24 Rob Talbot No image.png 11 December 198126 July 1984
25 Mike Moore Mike Moore, 1992 (crop).jpg 26 July 198424 August 1987 Lange
26 Phil Goff Phil Goff, 1989.jpg 24 August 198710 January 1988
27 Jonathan Hunt Jonathan Hunt 1986.jpg 10 January 19888 August 1989
28 Fran Wilde FranWilde.png 8 August 19892 November 1990 Palmer
Moore
29 John Banks John Banks.jpg 2 November 19901 November 1996 Bolger
30 Murray McCully Murray McCully Estonia 2010 (cropped).jpg 1 November 199627 April 1999
Shipley
31 Lockwood Smith Lockwood Smith (cropped).jpg 27 April 199910 December 1999
32 Mark Burton Mark Burton.jpg 10 December 199919 October 2005 Clark
33 Damien O'Connor Damien O'Connor (crop).jpg 19 October 200519 November 2008
34 John Key John Key by UNDP.jpg 19 November 200812 December 2016 Key
35 Paula Bennett Paula Bennett Official.png 12 December 201626 October 2017 English
36 Kelvin Davis Kelvin Davis.jpg 26 October 20176 November 2020 Ardern
37 Stuart Nash Stuart Nash, 2023.jpg 6 November 20201 February 2023
Hipkins
38 Peeni Henare Peeni Henare.jpg 1 February 202327 November 2023
As Minister of Tourism and Hospitality
39 Matt Doocey Matt Doocey (cropped).png 27 November 202324 January 2025 Luxon
40 Louise Upston Louise Upston (cropped).png 24 January 2025present

Notes

  1. "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2016" (PDF). Parliament.nz. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  2. "Ministerial List". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  3. "New Zealand. Tourist and Publicity Department". New Zealand. Tourist and Publicity De... 1 January 1901. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  4. Tourist and Publicity Department Act 1963 .
  5. Wilson 1985, pp. 90–97, 132.
  6. Wood, G. A. (1996). Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament (2nd ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press. p. 28. Although termination of F. Langstone's ministerial posts is dated 21 December 1942, replacement appointments were not made until 7 July 1943.

References