High Kiwi dollar affects inbound tourism
A report in the Dominion Post in NZ says that the high dollar appears to be biting into tourism, with a 4.4% drop in the number of American visitors arriving at Auckland International Airport in March compared with the same month a year ago.
Auckland Airport’s CFO Robert Sinclair, said the decrease, to just under 19,000 arrivals from the United States, was unusual, adding, “Our currency against the US is possibly part of the explanation.”
Air New Zealand spokeswoman Tracey Palmer said passenger numbers from Los Angeles had fallen slightly year on year because of the airline replacing the Boeing 747 with slightly smaller 777s on the route, with the change increasing load factors for North America and Britain from 78.4% to 80.4%.
Air New Zealand’s direct service to San Francisco, launched in 2004, was performing strongly, Ms Palmer said.
Mr Sinclair said Auckland Airport was concerned about the impact the high dollar could have on inbound traffic, and conversely the effects of higher domestic interest rates on New Zealanders travelling.
But the high dollar was the likely driver behind a 13.9% increase in the number of New Zealanders travelling overseas, totalling 89,452, Mr Palmer said.
Overall, the number of international passengers passing through the airport was up 2% for the year to date, with the seventh successive month of growth and the highest in two years, Mr Sinclair said.
Total international passengers were up 7.6% to 564,388, and total international arrivals up 8.9% to 261,164.
Passenger numbers from Australia and Britain were up 10.9% and 11.5% respectively, while arrivals from China continued to grow at 18% on the back of Air New Zealand’s new service to Shanghai, albeit from a low base.
Japanese tourists were down another 12%, however, and German numbers down 6.5%.
Domestic passengers grew 3.3% to 487,220, and were up 2.3% for the year to date.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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