NZ Tourist Fee will go up soon, by a lot
 

not for Aussies though.

Diamantina, I read the article you included. I have a question. The article states the IVL is included in the price of the electronic New Zealand visa, which we have, of course, for our upcoming trip in November. I assume the increase in the IVL price would not invalidate our visa, right?

Thank you!

Pretty terrible journalism.

Australia charges a departure tax of $A70 ($NZ76), while the United Kingdom charges varying rates of Air Passenger Duty depending on the distance of travel. These are entirely different taxes to a visa fee. UK Air passenger duty is charged on all flights OUT of the UK regardless of nationality.

NZ seems to be moving ahead with its stand intention to move its tourist base "upmarket". Plenty of countries charge visa fee but taxing foreigners visiting the country to this extent is probably not the best way to do it. It is just a tax raising exercise. It would put me off visiting NZ again and spending my cash to support public spending in NZ.

KarenWoo, I called the Ministry of Tourism, no answer, left a message, then spoke with a real person at Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, who referred me to NZ Immigration, where another real person told me that you will be fine and will not be asked to pay more. In fact, she said they expect a rush of NZeTA requests before Oct. 1.

Diamantina, thank you so much for making those phone calls!!!! I really, really appreciate it! You are so kind and so helpful.

You're welcome. You asked a good question, which made me want to know the answer as well, and it was much easier for me to find out.

Wow, that's surprising! Any idea how much the fee is expected to increase? This could definitely affect travel plans, especially for budget travelers. I hope the extra cost goes towards improving tourism infrastructure or environmental preservation.