Exotic destinations prove attractive

HOLA CUBA: Wanganui people are venturing past Fiji and the Gold Coast for overseas holidays.A-101104SPCUBAWOMEN

Cuba, Turkmenistan and Antarctica are not your every day travel destinations but there are Wanganui people heading that way for their holidays.

They might be destinations on some people's "bucket lists" but local travel agent Mike O'Malley said he was handling a "surprising" number of inquiries for places off the beaten track.

Mr O'Malley, director of House of Travel Wanganui, said survey findings by online travel company Expedia mirrored the travel plans of many customers his firm was dealing with.

Expedia surveyed 1000 New Zealanders aged 18 and older, and the top three on Kiwi bucket lists were: visiting a theme park like Disneyland, taking in the view from the Empire State Building or visiting an important historical site like Gallipoli.

Mr O'Malley said Wanganui travellers were not afraid to go well away from the usual tourist routes, and in recent months he had organised itineraries for locals to places as far flung as Cuba and Antarctica.

"Cuba's one that intrigues people. Maybe for some it was the missile crisis in the early 1960s that triggers it."

He said a round-trip from Wanganui to Cuba would start around $3700 per person going via Mexico. His store had booked five such trips recently.

"That's a good route, as clients generally will do a week in Mexico."

If you're interested in Antarctica, you have to book a year or more in advance and have fairly deep pockets. That trip requires flights to the bottom of South America and then a cruise south. Packages start around $10,000 per person and head upwards.

But the premium price hasn't deterred some locals, because Mr O'Malley has handled bookings for six people recently.

Other popular long-haul destinations include the west coast of the USA and Europe. Special deals for a five-night trip to Los Angeles have been priced about $1500 per person from Auckland.

"Europe would probably double in price, but again there are some great deals to grab, with fares starting around $2000 upwards," Mr O'Malley said.

The Middle East was another area generating interest.

"Iran gets quite a bit of inquiry, also the likes of former Eastern bloc countries such as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. They're places that hold interest for the intrepid traveller."

He said clients often took two or three holidays a year. Those trips could include a domestic holiday, a short international one and a long-haul international one. Travellers in that category were generally two-income families, often in the 50-65 year age bracket.

There were also more people in their early 20s taking regular overseas holidays. While younger travellers still looked to Asia, older people tended to go further, to the USA and Europe.

The Pacific Islands and Australia were popular destinations for Wanganui families.

"The Gold Coast is a big puller and I've had four families taking holidays to Fiji in the last couple of months. They're people wanting good facilities for the kids. Things like meal deals and kids flying half-price or staying for free attract them.

"You're talking about a holiday of four or five nights for a family of five for $3500, which is incredible value."

Mr O'Malley said this year business had started slowly, which probably reflected the struggle affecting most Wanganui retail businesses, and had carried over from last year.

"Things slowed up before the global financial crisis (2008) but it's picked up now.

"Since we've started bookings for 2015, we're two months ahead in terms of business than we were last year. We've got more people booked for European trips next year at this point than we've ever had.

"And for family short-haul trips, quick-fire stuff, we're getting constant inquiries.

"This time last year it was just dead," he said.