Tough times but tourism optimism high

Businesses seem upbeat despite the industry facing tough times after quakes and high fuel prices
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A combination of negative national and international events have failed to dent optimism and confidence in Rotorua's tourism sector.
Tourism Industry Association chief executive Tim Cossar was in the city yesterday for the association's Creating Our Future roadshow, and told The Daily Post he was impressed by the positive attitude of Rotorua operators and the creative solutions they put forward.
"I have been in the industry for about 25 years and what we are dealing with now is a big time in our history. But, talking to people, they are still invariably positive about our future."
Cossar pointed to the Christchurch and Sendai earthquakes, the recession and conflicts in the Middle East and the subsequent impact on fuel prices as significant challenges for tourism in New Zealand. But he said there were also positive things to look forward to such as the Rugby World Cup and the filming of The Hobbit, bringing positive, international attention to the country and providing opportunities to prove New Zealand is still open for business.
The roadshow has already visited Northland, Auckland and Hawke's Bay and will be continuing to another six destinations in the coming weeks. Cossar said a number of common themes were already emerging.
"There is an overarching sense of the New Zealand brand, underpinned by sustainable tourism practices. It comes out very strongly that this is key to our country and how the industry wants it to be represented."
Rising petrol prices were causing widespread concern within the domestic tourism market.
"At the moment we do have quite a tough domestic market and that was made very clear here [in Rotorua]. The price of fuel is a big barrier to travel and there is no easy solution to this."
Finding solutions is a key element of the roadshow and Cossar said it was more effective lobbying Tourism Minister John Key with positive proposals to tackle issues than with the issues alone.
Although he could not elaborate at this stage, Cossar said some very creative ideas had come from the Rotorua meeting.
In international markets, operators feel a need to be preparing for growing markets out of China, India, South America, Asia and Eastern Europe.
"These markets will be playing a much bigger role in about five years, but operators are saying they don't know the cultures well enough. They need to know what these people are looking for, how to get them here and how to provide the services they need when they are here."
Cossar said it was important to begin preparing now through cultural development programmes.
Local government is also coming up at each meeting, but issues vary between regions.
"I don't think we, as an industry, deliver our message to local government as well as we could. The industry still feels there is a big gap there."