The Government's 2034 tourism target is to lift arrivals to 4.78 million, but a report for MBIE shows that this could require up to $3.5 billion in extra infrastructure.

Regions like Queenstown are already facing pressure on their infrastructure with Destination Queenstown and Lake Wanaka Tourism CEO Mat Woods saying they are 'bursting at the seams'. 

He told Andrew Dickens, "we're having to actually release treated wastewater into the Shotover River, which is far from ideal when you consider a 100% pure sort of image that we like to give our international visitors about New Zealand."

LISTEN ABOVE