Japanese tourists shun NZ
The number of Japanese travellers to New Zealand fell 9.5 per cent from July to September compared with a year ago.
“The six months would be, possibly in my memory, very bad, possibly one of the worst – as bad as Sars,” managing director of Southern Travel Holdings Kiyomi Gunji said yesterday.
Mr Gunji blames the dip on the high Kiwi dollar, media reports about bird flu, the threat of terrorism in Australia and a reduction in airline capacity.
About 159,000 Japanese visited this year, compared with 165,000 in 2004, Statistics NZ figures show.
Tourism NZ spokeswoman Cas Carter said the Japanese market was expected to be flat this year, although Tourism NZ had launched a $4.2 million marketing campaign to woo back visitors and would unveil a website in March geared specifically for the Japanese market, she said
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