21 July 2009

ItÃ¢â¬â¢s not only the snow thatÃ¢â¬â¢s falling in NZ

WELLINGTON - Statistics released today provide the first clear picture of the effect of Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) on Asian visitorsÃ¢â¬â¢ confidence to travel.

June arrivals to New Zealand from South Korea, Japan and China were all seriously impacted by swine flu, which was first detected in New Zealand in late April, but quickly spread around the world.

The Japanese market slumped more than 66 percent and there were heavy falls in arrivals from China (49.4 percent) and South Korea (48.5 percent).

The only major inbound markets to grow were Canada (up 13 percent) and Australia (up 9.2 percent)

Ã¢â¬ÅâœExperience with past shocks, like SARs and September 11, meant we knew that arrivals from our Asian markets would likely be badly hit by the swine flu outbreak,Ã¢â¬~ Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said.

Hickton said because of that constant contact, it was hoped that some of the earlier threatened cancellations would be turned into postponements.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœFortunately, our offshore offices are picking up some more positive signals for later this year; we are hoping China will star to improve from September, and the outlook for Japan is also looking slightly better for the first time in many months,Ã¢â¬~ Hickton added.

While the Asian arrivals figures were weak, the strength of the Australian market helped the industry to hold its ground.