No Trump Slump for New Zealanders to the United States

Chicago is a new gateway to New Zealand travellers to the US. Photo / Greg Bowker

United States tourism group Brand USA says the country's controversial president isn't deterring visitors.

The New Zealand market is strong, with the 3 per cent increase in visitors to about 300,000 over the last year.

''New Zealand is a market we want to do a lot more in - visitation is up through to May and that's a little bit higher acceleration than the year before,'' said chief strategy and communications officer Anne Madison.

She said the new Auckland-Chicago service launched last month would help boost numbers of Kiwis as it took them deeper in to the heart of the US.

''We saw such a great increase when Air New Zealand started flying to Houston.''
Air New Zealand flies to Houston daily and to Chicago three times a week in addition to services to San Francisco and Los Angeles on the US mainland.

American Airlines and United have also stepped up flying non-stop services across the Pacific and Hawaiian Airlines is expanding its range of mainland destinations from Auckland via Honolulu.

Madison said any "Trump Slump'' wasn't materialising, certainly in New Zealand.

"The political environment is top of mind with people but ultimately will not affect their decisions. The primary decision that people make is about the people of a country rather than politics,''she said.

''People in the US are some of the most welcoming in the world and on any particular trip no matter what the political climate these are the things you take home.''

While the Kiwi dollar had bounced back from this year's lows, it was still shy of 70c which is a psychological tipping point for many Kiwi travellers.

''The US dollar has got a little bit stronger and that's a bit of a challenge for us. It is a double-edge sword. They still see tremendous value in coming to the Untied States because there are so many experiences they can enjoy on the same trip.''

There were great hotel bargains outside the gateway cities.

''The best value is in smaller cities where hotels can be 30 per cent of the price they are in the larger markets,'' said Madison.

New Zealanders spent on average spent between 18 days and 22 days in the US.