Flu fears keep Japanese tourists away

Winter is the peak season for Japanese school groups to visit New Zealand. Photo / Alan Gibson

Fall-out from swine flu has hit New Zealand's tourism industry with in-bound tour operators reporting high cancellations from Japan.

Southern Travel Holding which gets 90 per cent of its in-bound business from Japan, yesterday said it had received 700 cancellations in the last week, mainly from school groups.

Rival firm JTB Travel said it had seen 500 cancellations and a further 500 pre-bookings from school and corporate groups had been dropped .

The swine flu virus was confirmed in New Zealand two weeks ago after a group of students returned to New Zealand from Mexico where it originated.

Since then 29 countries have reported cases of the flu although there have been few deaths outside of Mexico.

No new confirmed or probable cases of swine flu have been reported since Saturday, the Ministry of Health said last night.

The number of confirmed cases remained at seven and the number of probable cases stayed at 12.

Southern Travel Holdings chairman Rodney Walshe said the school group cancellations were likely to be a result of New Zealand students being affected by the virus.

Winter is traditionally a quiet time in terms of numbers of visitors but is normally the peak season for visiting school groups.

"To have 700 pull out for the last two months - it just makes a hole," Walshe said.

The cancellations meant the company would report a loss rather than a flat or small profit for its June 30 financial year.

Walshe said the Japanese were typically cautious travellers and he was not sure whether there would be more cancellations to come.

"We don't know. But we are nervous that there may be more."

JTB manager Yasuaki Ishida said he was expecting more cancellations.

So far the cancellations had mainly affected its May, June and July bookings but it was worried they would stretch to August when a lot of Japanese travelled during the school holidays.

Latest monthly figures for March showed 10,500 Japanese visited this country.

Tourism New Zealand spokeswoman Cas Carter said Asian markets and particularly Japan had shown the highest levels of concern regarding swine flu.

They were also the most reactive when bird flu and Sars first emerged.

Carter said the marketing body was talking directly to those considering cancelling to inform them of the situation in New Zealand and reassure them of the practical details should they get sick in New Zealand.

"We are hoping some [cancellations] won't come to fruition."

The Japanese market has declined in recent years but remains New Zealand's fifth largest source market for all visitors and third largest source market for those coming for education purposes.

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said it had received anecdotal evidence in the last few days that a number of school groups were cancelling trips to Australia.

Westaway said it was a concern and the airline, which flies from Japan to Queensland, was doing everything it could to counter it.

Air New Zealand could not be reached for comment.