In reaction to an Australian tour operator whinging about accommodation charges, Hospitality Association chief Bruce Robertson was quoted as saying that "... fears were just an Australian beat-up, and it was too early to start talking prices. The Australians charged the same sort of rates when they hosted the Sydney Olympics".
Hotel Council chairwoman Jennie Langley has said that prices set by overseas tour operators were "beyond our control", but "the market will rule on the day".
Even the Motel Association of New Zealand chipped in with some common sense by saying: "The market will decide."
However, there was one industry organisation that stood out.
We can only determine that @home NEW ZEALAND, the national bed & breakfast association is made up of lonely old moccasin slipper wearing, bed wetting, socialist wowsers that struggle to understand the fundamentals of running a small business. To prove a point they ejaculated a press release this week:
“However, as we could foresee this situation happening, we advised our members by general email on 20 April that apart from a slight adjustment to cover proposed increases in GST and other fixed charges, we felt their room rate should not be substantially different to what they would charge during a normal high season period. I and my board feel that to hike prices excessively during RWC 2011 could cause future damage to the tourism industry both for accommodation providers and for other services reliant on tourism......"Hilarious! We can't wait for @home NEW ZEALAND'S next announcement;-)
