Bookings run hot for Pacific deals
Travel agents in New Zealand say bookings are running red hot as people flock to take advantage of a flurry of cheap overseas package deals.
Today, New Caledonia Tourism is launching a “two for one” sale, effectively slashing 50 per cent off the price of a holiday.
The cheapest deals start at $1299 for four nights including airfares and transfers flying from Auckland, a trip that would usually cost $2598.
It is understood to be the first time the New Caledonian tourism industry has worked together to offer deals during its low season.
Airlines and resorts are already offering half-price deals in the wake of the coup in Fiji and the riots in Tonga.
The deals are bringing an unexpected boost to travel agents.
Raumati Wikaire, South Pacific Product Manager for Flight Centre, said sales had been red hot since the company started its Boxing Day sale, “Fiji’s going off at the moment. New Caledonia is a really good deal. Basically, the whole of the South Pacific we’ve got deals on at the moment.”
House of Travel Retail Director Brent Thomas said the company had been inundated with inquiries this week. Bookings for Fiji and the Cook Islands were now more than 25 per cent up on last year, which was “staggering”.
Good package deals, poor weather and the strong New Zealand dollar were all fuelling interest in overseas trips.
“Kiwis are still enjoying a very prosperous time and they are still buying big-ticket items, and we are one of those,” Mr Thomas said.
The lowest airfares to Fiji were about 20% below those at the corresponding time last year, and hotels were about 40% cheaper.
Miss Wikaire said the deals were being driven by a combination of factors: Fiji was trying to lure tourists back after the recent political unrest, and it was also traditionally the low season in the Pacific Islands.
“Anyone will travel if the price is right.”
While New Zealand has recorded one of its coldest Decembers in 60 years, New Caledonia’s main city, Noumea, boasts 212 sunny days a year. During the warm season from September to March, temperatures average between 25 degrees celsius and 27C.
In the year to November, New Zealanders took 1.86 million short-term trips overseas, compared with 1.85 million the year before. Mr Thomas said the industry estimated it would crack two million overseas trips this year.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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