Expense drives NZ down list of hot travel spots

Spain tops the ranking list of tourist destinations, well ahead of New Zealand in 16th place. Photo / AP

Country slips four places in two years with industry head sounding a price warning.

New Zealand has slipped in an international measure of travel and tourism competitiveness on a range of measures, especially the cost to visit here.

Think tank, the World Economic Forum, ranks this country 16th out of 141 countries - down from 12th two years ago. Price competitiveness slipped from 74th in 2013 to 117th reflecting the New Zealand dollar's appreciation in the period between the surveys.

Europe has six economies in the top 10, which the forum said was attributable to its world-class tourism service infrastructure, excellent "health and hygiene" conditions, and a high degree of international openness and integration.

New Zealand does score well in other areas, notably third for international openness, human resources and labour market (sixth) safety and security (seventh) and business environment (eighth).

Tourism Industry Association chief executive Chris Roberts said the price competitiveness part of the ranking was a warning.

"This reflects that we are not a cheap destination and therefore must remain very focused on delivering value for money," Roberts said.

He pointed out that there was a small movement in several categories which had pushed New Zealand down the ratings.

New Zealand is 49th in terms of ground and port infrastructure.

"We get marked down for the quality of our roads, our port facilities and our limited passenger rail network," Roberts said.

Cultural resources and business travel are combined and here New Zealand gets marked down because the country holds relatively few international conferences, reflecting the country's lack of facilities.

High rankings for international openness, human resources, the labour market, business environment, safety and security and environmental sustainability (where New Zealand ranked 10th) put the country in a good position to attract investment, workers and visitors, he said.

New Zealand has about three million international arrivals a year and has had a record summer.

The forum is well known for hosting a high profile gathering of business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland, every year, and says Spain led the rankings for the first time.

It is the third most visited country in the world and that figure is increasing thanks to a surge in visitors from emerging markets such as China, Brazil and Mexico.

France, second overall in the ranking, is the most visited country in the world with 84 million tourists.

Australia ranks well ahead of New Zealand and tourism leaders here are looking at how it is reviving its push to attract more visitors as the resource boom has ended.

The forum says Australia has identified tourism as one of four national investment priorities.

It ranks second for natural resources and it has made significant progress in easing visa requirements, including an expansion in the online visa application system and allowing more self-processing at the border for United States and British passport holders.

However, the country ranks 17 places behind New Zealand for price competitiveness.

The top 10

Spain
France
Germany
United States
Britain
Switzerland
Australia
Italy
Japan
Canada.