New Zealand turns to Asia for business
Kevin Bowler, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, has singled out Asia as “an area of opportunity” to counter a downturn in visitors from Australia.
“Australia is a puzzle,” Bowler said. Arrivals had been strong through the global financial crisis, he said, but lately as the Aussie dollar soared in value against its New Zealand counterpart, the number of visitors from Australia had not kept pace.
“Australians have so many (travel) options now,” Bowler said. “They are traveling the world like princes, perhaps thinking that with the Aussie dollar so high they will never get such an opportunity again.
“And they are traveling further to the United States and southeast Asia.”
Bowler said the strong economies in Asia, especially China, would receive extra marketing focus from Tourism New Zealand. These efforts would be helped by new air linkages serviced by, among others, China Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
“We see our strongest opportunities in Asia but we need to embrace and understand how we can best service the needs of visitors from Asia,” Bowler said.
Bowler said areas that needed attention for visitors from China included food, particularly breakfast, signage and service.
“Asian visitors have high expectations. ‘She’ll be right’, won’t be alright.
"We’re leaving a lot of money on the table because we’re not telling people about the opportunities (tours, attractions etc) in their own language," Bowler added.
Ian Jarrett
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