George Hickton echos the Prime Minister's headline making soundbite about tourism taking "a billion dollar hit".
The motel industry will hopefully not bear the initial brunt of the downturn in overseas visitor numbers. Domestic travelers make up 72% of guest nights at motels. There is the potential for an increased in domestic trade to counter any decrease in overseas visitor nights as Kiwis defer their overseas holiday in favour of taking a break at home.
There is also the opportunity for motels to attract a greater share of central and local government funded guest nights away from higher priced hotels, as public spending goes under the spotlight.
21 November 2008
Press Release: Tourism New Zealand
New visitor arrivals figures have shown a worsening situation for New Zealand’s tourism industry.
Statistics New Zealand figures out today showed a 3.3% decline in international visitor arrivals for October compared to the same month last year.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton says given falling consumer confidence there is likely to be a drop of more than 10% in visitor numbers over summer compared to the same time last year.
“This economic situation is not something we can control, but what we can control is our reaction to the situation and to try and maximise any benefits where we can find them,” Mr Hickton said.
One initiative to try and boost UK visitors is the Rugby Ball Venue which opens in London on Tuesday (25 November) and is a further phase of the new $7.3 million UK campaign, which was launched in September.
“We may not be able to grow visitor numbers from the UK in the current climate, but it is important to position New Zealand’s brand strongly so that we can come out of this situation with a bigger market share than when we went in,” Mr Hickton said.
Highlights of International Visitor Arrivals October 2008:
• Australia 71,760 up 0.1%
• UK 17,976 down 2.3%
• USA 14,280 down 12.4%
• Canada 3480 up 5.1%
• China 6552 down 31.5%
• Korea 5880 down 17.0%
• Japan 6720 down 15.1%
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0811/S00384.htm
