Travel talks: Gai Tyrrell - Hawaiian Airlines regional director for Australia and NZ

Gai Tyrrell says North Americans see New Zealand as the safest country in the world to visit.

Melbourne-born Gai Tyrrell always wanted to get into the travel industry after leaving school. She is Hawaiian Airlines' regional director for Australia and New Zealand and has more than 20 years of airline and travel industry experience. She has been chief executive officer at booking system firm Sabre Pacific and has held a number of senior leadership roles at different companies, including chief operating officer at Jetset Travelworld Group, executive general manager at Flight Centre and general manager, industry sales Australia, at Qantas.

What are the biggest challenges facing your business?

Hawaiian has been flying here three times a week from Honolulu for more than two years and faces intense competition, specifically with Air New Zealand but with other destinations such as Bali and Fiji.

We need to consistently present a strong case for why Kiwis should consider Hawaii as a destination, and then choose to fly with Hawaiian Airlines to get there. Many New Zealanders also don't realise Hawaiian Airlines flies beyond Hawaii to 11 mainland US destinations too, so it can be a challenge to get consumers to think of us when considering US travel.

How will the fall in the Kiwi dollar affect your operation?

Do we see a weakening [in demand] - of course. It impacts everybody the same way but currency is not something I go around complaining about every day because we're all in the same boat.

Other destinations are affected. But it means the Americans are coming down here in greater numbers.

The North Americans love coming to New Zealand, they see it as the safest country in the world to travel to and their dollar buys them a heap and freight is performing strongly.

What initiatives do you have under way this year?

We're constantly looking at where is the next opportunity - whether it's permanently or seasonally and looking at new international routes. The airline flies to New Zealand three times a week and expansion is constantly under review.

Is the industry in good shape?

It's going through one of those boom periods. Our numbers are exactly where we would expect them to be. In spite of the currency here and in Australia, Kiwis and Aussies always travel, it's pretty hard to keep them at home. But history shows events can impact travel very rapidly.

How is your business affected by new technology/digital disrupters?

Considerably and positively. We invest heavily in this area, constantly monitoring, mitigating and exploring new technology developments. Being able to check in at self-serve kiosks and make changes to your own booking through an online portal are just some of the ways we've used technology to streamline the booking and travel process for our passengers. The airline has launched a new website but travel trade partners are the biggest part of its business. Direct bookings will pick up but we'll never work against trade partners to take business from them.