In recent years, dynamic and ongoing fluctuations in government priorities, visitation patterns and volumes, and tourism funding sources coupled with aging public infrastructure has contributed to vulnerabilities in the New Zealand tourism system. Fundamental to addressing these issues is the need for an effective tourism resourcing system. 

The 2025 Otago Tourism Policy School will focus on potential solutions to these challenges by exploring global, national and regional levers and perspectives for how we might address our most pressing resourcing concerns.

This is an annual forum that brings together a wide array of tourism academics, business leaders, policy communities, industry organisations and other interested parties to discuss and debate key challenges and opportunities confronting the tourism industry in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Over the last five years the Otago Tourism Policy School has explored the themes ‘Tourism sustainability: Volume v s value’ (2019), ‘Decarbonising tourism (2020), ‘Net-benefit tourism: A new approach’ (2021), ‘Structural change for regenerative tourism’ (2022), Tourism Policy: Are we fit for purpose? (2023) and Connecting the Dots: Fostering a cohesive and connected tourism system (2024).