Chinese new year a boon for tourism
Chinese New Year is shaping up to be busy for the tourism industry, with more than 50,000 travel visas issued to Chinese visitors last month.
It reflects changing travel patterns and the record 35,771 visas issued for independent travellers vastly outnumbered the 15,648 issued for those on organised tours.
The Year of the Dog officially begins on Friday, and industry sources say that while some Chinese visa holders may travel later, it’s likely most will come in in the weeks immediately around Chinese New Year.
Last year total Asian visitor arrivals surpassed 970,000 and almost half of them were from China.
Christchurch airport expects to welcome 6000 Chinese arrivals this month, up 50 per cent on last year, thanks to increased flights from China and the introduction of a direct service from Hong Kong.
Based on an average spend of $3800 per head, those visitors could pump an additional $7.5m into the South Island economy.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Graham Budd said February was always a busy month for the town and the timing of Chinese New Year made it more so.
People arriving without bookings in the next few weeks would struggle to find accommodation unless they were prepared pay at least $600 a night for a hotel room. ‘‘And that’s likely to only be available because of a last minute cancellation or no-shows.’’
Tourism Central Otago spokeswoman Alison Mason said the region was ‘‘jam packed’’ as far as Alexandra.
Kate Travel owner Kate Deng said cheaper airfares from China were bringing more budget conscious customers, and if hotels were more expensive, they were not willing to spend on higher end activities costing more than $200.
Managing director of China Travel Service Lisa Li said quite a few premier group tours had cancelled because of higher accommodation costs, with some hotels double last year’s prices.