Displaying items by tag:Tourism Export Council

New Zealand is still in one of the most positive positions globally when it comes to tourism, particularly in terms of desirability, says THL CEO Grant Webster.

Fees and charges dressed up as tourist taxes actually have nothing to do with tourism and are just ways for cash strapped governments or local authorities to raise funds, a ‘beamed-in’ speaker at the Tourism Export Council conference said last week.

A significant majority of travellers are now using AI to help plan their trip, but that doesn’t mean they are abandoning other existing channels, delegates at a major tourism conference in Christchurch has heard over the last two days.

Tourism numbers over summer have met the expectations of the inbound trade, but still have a way to go before they reach pre-pandemic figures, says Lynda Keene, CEO of the Tourism Export Council (TEC) of New Zealand.

Floods, ferry cancellations, cyclones, staff shortages, seven-day Covid isolations and other disruptive forces have left the New Zealand inbound side of the industry saying that they have never seen a season quite like the one they have recently come out of.

Inbound bookings are looking good for the 2023-2024 season, according to Tourism Export Council NZ chair Scott Mehrtens.

With the organisation set for its annual conference this week Mehrtens says that if TEC’s  assumptions turn out to be correct with its International Arrival Forecasts, a recovery rate of 87% by 1 May 2024 is expected.

The Tourism Export Council (TECNZ) is seeing promising signs for inbound operators but is also emphasising that there are considerable challenges still ahead.

‘The school holidays were busy from tourism operators, particularly Queenstown, with plenty of Australian visitors and domestic winter travellers / skiers. We’re also hearing of some US travellers who have arrived and are travelling around,’ says TEC chief executive Lynda Keene. ‘The main flow of international visitors won’t happen until October but it is encouraging to see a small return.’

The Tourism Export Council of New Zealand (TECNZ) is urging the Government to help develop a recovery plan for the sector.

TECNZ chief executive Lynda Keene says inbound tour operators have had no income since the country’s borders were closed early last year and have been the most affected sector across the international tourism industry. ‘They are hanging by a thread. We cannot understate how serious the future of NZ’s international visitor economy is. Without financial support and targeted assistance in 2021, ITOs and visitor product and experiences will be forced to close.

The organisation that represents New Zealand’s inbound tour operators says it is ‘underwhelmed’ that Government is only looking to extend the wage subsidy for a further two weeks.

Chief executive of the Tourism Export Council of New Zealand (TECNZ) Lynda Keene says although the council is pleased there is an extension, an additional two weeks is not going to help businesses trying to plan for the next four months through to Christmas. ‘We were hoping the wage subsidy would be extended to at least 17 October, the new election date.

‘Given the opportunity to provide support for ITO (inbound tour operator) businesses that have had zero revenue since lockdown in March 2020 and tourism operators who are desperately trying to regain losses over the past six months with domestic visitors, the two-week extension seems a little short-sighted and has not provided any certainty for businesses who may face continuous disruptions,’ Keene says.

‘Our members are also struggling with the delay in Government processes to advise STAPP (Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme) recipients about loan terms and conditions – particularly with ITOs still not knowing if they are eligible for STAPP ITO loans (or grants) since the original announcement was made on 1 August 2020.

‘Not having any detail for almost three weeks is creating immense anxiety for businesses that are trying to make decisions on the future of their operations. We urge MBIE to contact TECNZ or its members with information that can assist them with their decision-making as soon as possible.’

Tourism Export Council (TEC) NZ has released an international tourism recovery roadmap that predicts trans Tasman travel opening up in October 2020 and a number of Asia Pacific source markets / destinations following a month later.