Aussie tourists flock across ditch
The Dominion Post reports that we may be rivals, even enemies on the sports field, but Australians still love New Zealand.
Statistics published across the Tasman report that New Zealand is by far the favourite destination for the 5.75 million Australians who travelled overseas in the past 12 months.
In the year to the end of August, 914,000 Australians crossed the ditch. This nearly matched the number of Australians who went to the United States and Britain, the second and third most popular destinations.
Australians account for 40 per cent of all tourists coming to New Zealand.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said he expected the number of Australian visitors to hold up better than numbers from the US, Britain, Japan and China. Falling currency values had made the rest of the world more expensive for Australians and New Zealanders wanting to travel.
However, the global economic crisis and falling consumer confidence were starting to bite. “Our prediction is that if it’s going to be 5 per cent down in summer, it is going to be double that in winter.”
Tourism was particularly susceptible to a loss of consumer confidence with people opting not to spend money on items such as cars and holidays, he said.
The fall in the value of the New Zealand dollar could help, but it was important for the industry to keep up its marketing effort.
A Report by The Mole
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