Flu and recession hitting tourism

The global recession and outbreak of swine flu is having a significant impact on New Zealand's tourism industry, an Inbound Tourist Operators Council (ITOC) conference has been told.

Around 200 delegates from New Zealand and abroad are in Gisborne for the conference.

A common theme among keynote speakers yesterday was the effect of the recession and how New Zealand could overcome it.

While the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has predicted tourism will take an unprecedented dive of 4-6 per cent this year, ITOC president Bill Henderson believes tourism will help New Zealand out of the recession.

"We are in tough times but I believe we have reached the bottom. Now we've just got to roll our sleeves up and get on with it," he said.

Pacific Asia Travel Association regional director Chris Flynn presented a grim overview on factors that had affected the industry over the past nine years, such as September 11, the Iraq war, the Sars outbreak and skyrocketing oil prices.

Perceptions and beliefs had a huge impact on consumer patterns and there had been a lot of fear in recent years.

But one of the biggest factors was competitive pricing, he said.

"Discounts are conditioning consumers to pay less for more. It is a difficult situation we are in, but we must realise doing things the old way just won't do anymore."

Ministry for Tourism research manager Bruce Bassett showed a trend of declining international visitor numbers in the past couple of months, particularly in Asian markets. As the outbreak of swine flu and economic downturn deepened, this trend had worsened.

"Based on international research we have made the assumption the global recession will ease over the next six to 12 months with recovery being slow, cautious and uneven," he said.

He also presented findings from their tourism industry monitor, which is based on feedback from tourism operators nationwide.

The biggest factor they faced in the current climate was a drop in demand, followed by competitive discounts.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton agreed prices were "certainly not where we want them."

"Airlines are putting on some pretty amazing deals but my worry is that they can not continue that, and also they are conditioning travellers to book late and spend less.

"But there are enough people in the world that want to travel, so we just have to get on with it and bring them over here," he said.

The strength of the 100 per cent Pure New Zealand brand was highly effective in enticing visitors and remained strong today, even after being launched 10 years ago.

International visitor numbers had increased by 50 per cent since it launched and the brand integrity translated to other exports such as meat and wool, he said.

- NZPA