Luxury lodges slammed for high prices

New Zealand's top-end luxury lodge market has come under fire from a British travel agent for failing to drop its prices in the face of the economic downturn.

Speaking at the TRENZ tourism trade show yesterday, Jerry Bridge, managing director of luxury travel agency Bridge & Wickers, said a number of New Zealand lodges appeared overpriced compared with their international competitors, which had dropped down to meet the market.

"Other markets like Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Canada are getting it together and doing that. Not enough is being proactively done."

Bridge said not enough properties were giving a value-added experience like deals to stay three nights and pay for two. It seemed as though New Zealand had not been observing what was going on in other markets.

"There is a hell of a lot of special offers going on at the moment."

He said lodges should be knocking 20 to 25 per cent off their prices.

New Zealand could also do better from the British market by offering more bed and breakfast accommodation and focusing marketing spending on more tactical areas like the luxury and youth markets and wine and food lovers.

But New Zealand lodge groups say a drop in prices would ruin their credibility and make it difficult to bring the rates back up again in the future.

Erin Sullivan, director of Boutique Hotels and Lodges, said rates were set on the quality of a property.

"If we drop the prices it becomes hard to qualify when we want to put them back up again. I have got a number of resorts who would love to drop their rates and I won't let them. I believe we have good value - our rates are pretty realistic."

Sullivan said occupancy levels had been down between 10 and 20 per cent this year. Some lodges would close over the winter rather than drop theirrates.

New Zealand Lodge Association marketing executive Garrick Emms said most lodges were going through a seasonal adjustment at the moment over the winter period.

"But we have had quite a good season up to March."

Emms said international visitors were still coming to lodges but instead of staying 10 nights in one place they were mixing their accommodation and staying one or two nights at an expensive lodge before moving to a boutique hotel.

The average lodge costs $500 to $900 a person a night.

Meanwhile, a German travel agent also questioned whether the proposed cycleway would attract more visitors from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

Best of Travel Group general manager Bernd Rosner said he doubted whether the cycleway, which the Government has committed $50 million to over the next three years, would garner more cycling tourists.

He said cycling was popular but was a niche market.