Kiwis are still forking out for luxury travel. Photo / Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Kiwis are still forking out for luxury travel. Photo / Regent Seven Seas Cruises
New Zealanders are still heading overseas in record numbers, with operators saying confidence is strong among discretionary leisure travellers — some of whom are prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a trip.
The corporate market is holding up too.
While the growth rate has slowed, morethan 3.07 million Kiwis travelled overseas in the year to August, up 3 per cent on the year before, according to Stats NZ figures.
Air New Zealand has the biggest single share of travel to and from this country, and says it is confident about revenue and bookings in the short to medium term.
Chief revenue officer Cam Wallace says while cargo is suffering because of global trade tension, passenger business is looking good.
Gloomy confidence surveys are not reflected in the airline's operations.
''It's more about political positioning and less about what's really happening - all the doom and gloom that we read and hear about. I'm not seeing that in the data points.''
He says the New Zealand corporate market has proven very resilient.
House of Travel commercial director Brent Thomas says outbound travel has been on a strong run since 2010.
Although the rate of growth is slowing, his firm is still making record bookings.
He says those are being underpinned by people who want a holiday as they get access to growing KiwiSaver funds, and as long as mortgage rates stay low and employment rates high, confidence would continue to fuel growth.
While the New Zealand dollar has slipped against the US currency, it is still close to its 20-year average. If it slips below 60c against the greenback, Kiwis might reconsider travel to the US, says Thomas.
However, the dollar is performing strongly against other currencies such as the pound.
The pool deck on Regent's SS Explorer, billed as the "Most Luxurious Ship Ever Built". Photo / Supplied
Luxury cruise line Regent Seven Seas says it is seeing strong demand from New Zealanders.
Client events throughout the country last month attracted record numbers, says Lisa Pile, the company's vice-president and general manager Australia and New Zealand.
Passengers pay from $15,000 to $400,000 for cruises aboard Regent's ultra-luxury ships.
Lisa Pile is the head of Regent Seven Seas cruises in Australia and NZ. Photo / Supplied
She says the main factors that drive confidence among customers in the luxury cruise market include a healthy housing market and sharemarket.
Many people operate their own self-managed pension funds and the age of those forking out big sums for travel is getting younger - with an average age of 59.
''Our clients tend to be retired or semi-retired; self-made and from a mix of city and regional areas,'' Pile says.
A Helloworld cruise expert, Jacqueline Unsworth, says there has been no slowdown at all in that market.
''It is still firing on all cylinders across all demographics, not just luxury,'' she says.
''Baby boomers are still spending and travelling like never before – I don't think travel is something they will give up lightly.''
