Labour's plan for a $25 levy on overseas tourists arriving here has drawn sharp criticism from the industry. Labour leader Jacinda Ardern joins us in the studio to discuss the new policy.

International tourists would be charged $25 a head to help fund local tourism and conservation infrastructure under Labour.

Tourism spokesperson Kris Faafoi said the $25 levy would provide $75 million a year for a Tourism and Conservation Infrastructure Fund that would be used to provide a "world-class experience" for tourists without burdening local communities.

Announcing the plan in Rotorua on Monday alongside local mayor Steve Chadwick Faafoi said tourism's success meant more infrastructure was needed to serve all visitors "especially if we want to attract high-spending tourists who will increase the value of the sector to the New Zealand economy".

n/a Millions of people travel to New Zealand every year, making tourism one of our biggest industries.

He said it was not going to paid by New Zealand citizens or New Zealand residents.

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"From Northland to Southland, councils are facing increasing pressure to support growing numbers of tourists without the funds to do it. It's time for the Government to help ensure we deliver a world-class experience to tourists, without unfairly burdening local communities."

BENN BATHGATE/STUFF Labour tourism spokesman Kris Faafoi and Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick at the announcement of a new levy on international tourists.

The money would be divided up with $45m going to tourism infrastructure and training, especially in high-demand areas, with the remaining $30m going towards protecting and enhancing the natural environment, as well as infrastructure tourists use on conservation land.

It would double the amount already available to local areas for mid-sized infrastructure. Councils were struggling to meet the demand for things like toilets and car parks.

"It's only fair that the cost of these important projects is recouped from the international visitors that enjoy them," he said.

"There's no evidence that a levy of less than one per cent of what the average tourist spends in New Zealand will hurt tourism. In fact, after National introduced a $22 border charge, passenger numbers rose faster than expected."

Faafoi said he hoped Rotorua would be one of the cities to benefit from the levy.

There were about 3.5m international visitors last year.

Faafoi said it would be paid before people arrived into the country and he hoped it would be added to the ticket prices, but he wanted to talk to officials about that.

He had talked to Air New Zealand to discuss issues such as how it would be limited only to overseas visitors, not Kiwis coming home.

The amount raised was less than the $105m originally budgeted for in Labour's fiscal plan.

The plan is due to be updated on Tuesday to take account of the pre-election economic and fiscal update, released last week.

Chadwick said the fund could help pay for environmental projects.

"We would go minto this fund once we've got our plans completed."

Rotorua was also looking at a lake front development plan, that would be a major project that could benefit from the fund.

But National campaign manager Steven Joyce said it was just another new tax from Labour that would slow down the economy.

It could cut down the number of visitors. New Zealand was already seen as a relatively high cost destination because it cost a lot to fly here.

So even though it was not levied on New Zealanders, it would affect them very much.

"The most interesting thing about this announcement is how little the councils get."

He said the Government in the Budget had provided $100m infrastructure fund.

"it would take four years of this levy before the councils would get that much."

But Faafoi said the cash for councils would be additional to the current funding.

Joyce said National's $22 border tax - which was applied to all those arriving including New Zealanders returning - had paid for the actual costs of crossing the border.

Labour would need a new bureaucracy to handle the new charge and differentiate between foreign visitors and Kiwis, Joyce said.