Oz holiday boom as kiwi dollar surges

With the exchange rate between the New Zealand and Australia hovering close to parity, trips across the Tasman are forecast to increase this year.

Travel across the Tasman is forecast to increase this year as the Australian dollar continues its recent trend towards parity with the New Zealand dollar, according to an industry specialist.

Figures from the past two years show a marked increase in bookings as the Kiwi dollar has strengthened against the Australian dollar, House of Travel's commercial director Brent Thomas said.

The New Zealand dollar was little changed at 96.70 Australian cents from 96.76 cents on Friday, ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia decision on interest rates tomorrow.

"Holiday travel bookings to Australia were up 10.3 per cent in 2014 compared to 2013, which is nearly double the 2012 to 2013 increase," Thomas said.

The trend mirrored the closing of the gap between the kiwi dollar and Australian dollar over 2014, as it climbed from 0.8050 at the start of the year to 0.9225 by the end of December, he said.

With the current rate hovering close to parity, Kiwis will continue to take advantage of the strong exchange rate, Thomas said.

If so, there could be as much as a seven per cent increase in travel across the ditch this year, making the market growth an impressive 17 per cent in two years, he said.

"Kiwi travel to all destinations was up 6.9 per cent in 2014 vs 2013, which is solid growth, but clearly Australia has seen substantially more growth from our market which we believe can be attributed to the strengthening dollar."

"Flights, accommodation, and activities for our favourite Australian destinations such as Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast are all more affordable than ever, and the closing gap with the dollar appears to be making travel there even more attractive," he said.