Mathew:

I don't know enough about the specifics to be definitive, but this is my reaction.

Developing a tourist-based economy is great for super-poor jurisdictions - like the Maldives. A tourist economy is way better than no economy at all.

But it is much worse that an economy in manufacturing or more advanced services because the average salaries in tourism are so low.

NZ was once one of the very highest GDP/capita countries. Turning that into a tourist economy is a bad, bad idea.

Best,

Roger