Summer shaping up as bonanza

By SIMON HENDERY tourism writer

Barring a global catastrophe (and, admittedly, a few have hit the sector in the past three years) Tourism New Zealand expects overseas visitor numbers will grow by about 6 per cent this year.

As the industry grinds its way through the peak season and the throngs of Northern Hemisphere holidaymakers it brings, there is a growing expectation that this summer will turn out to be the busiest tourist bonanza yet.

The first hard evidence of that is expected next month when Statistics New Zealand releases overseas visitor arrival numbers for last year. .

The figures should show the year was a record for arrivals with about 2.1 million arriving in the country on short-term visits.

Figures for the year to November, the latest available, showed growth of 2.8 per cent, a result held back by the travel implications of the outbreak of the Sars virus last winter.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton says the industry headed into last year with the threat of war in Iraq and was then hit by Sars.

While some Asian markets continue to suffer the effects of Sars, the tourism industry begins this year with strong growth out of major European markets and the US, and is reaping the promotional benefits of Lord of the Rings films and Whale Rider.

The movies have given New Zealand "a good boost at the right time," Hickton says, and will continue to do so through to the video and DVD release of the Return of the King in about August.

This year will be without a global spotlight event such as last year's America's Cup.

"But I don't see anything on the horizon that's going to lessen New Zealand's appeal," says Hickton.

Tourism New Zealand's "100% Pure New Zealand" campaign is now into its fifth year but has several years of life left in it, he says.

"It just gets better and better and we get more and more positive feedback that it is a campaign that works for New Zealand."

As the year begins, Tourism New Zealand is continuing a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign in the US made possible by additional Government funding granted last year to take advantage of New Zealand's high profile in one of the country's key markets.

Other marketing and travel trade development work this year will focus on refining the country's appeal to the type of visitor Tourism New Zealand is focusing on - the so-called "interactive traveller".

The aim is that these "ideal visitors" - whether they are backpackers or wealthy retirees - engage more with the country's culture and thus stay longer and spend more.

"The concept transfers across a range of people," Hickton says.

"Some may well stay at Huka Lodge but others might stay at the local Top 10 motor camp and have just as good an experience.

"The point is they've spent some time doing a range of different activities in New Zealand and are the sort of people who get a lot of satisfaction out of that because New Zealand offers such good variety."

The industry's drive to improve yield appears to be working according to figures released by the Ministry of Tourism just before Christmas.

The International Visitor Survey estimated total visitor expenditure, excluding international airfares, was $6.41 billion for the year to September, up 9.6 per cent, or $561 million, on the same period a year earlier.

Over the same period the number of visitors arriving in the country rose 4.8 per cent.

Since 1998, expenditure has grown by an average 15.6 per cent a year as visitor numbers have risen by an annual average of 7.1 per cent.

By 2009, it is predicted 3 million overseas visitors (up from 2.1 million today) will spend $11.7 billion.