Brits spend could hit Northland
Northland tourism could be one of the first sectors to feel the impact of Brexit, given the British pound’s slump against the Kiwi dollar and its current 30 year low against the American greenback.
However while uncertainty in politics and the economy normally would have an impact on travel and tourism it remains to be seen if the pound recovers from this or remains low in the longer term.
Northland Inc’s general manager for regional promotions and tourism, Paul Davis, says it is too soon to see how Britain’s exit from the EU will affect tourist numbers to Northland.
‘‘Because visitors book well in advance, there is unlikely to be any major change until after the 16/17 peak season, if at all.’’
In the year ending to May 31 the UK was NZ’s fourth biggest source of tourists and Northland’s second largest international market (after Australia) with a spend $41m per year in the region.
During this time 213,280 UK visitors arrived in NZ and numbers are growing at eight per cent a year.
Almost half of those British visitors – 101,600 – came to visit friends and relatives.
‘‘Those who are coming for the Lions tour next year have already pretty much committed themselves and tour sales organisers are reported to be happy with current sales.’’
‘‘When you consider British visitors made up more than half of the 21,000 Lions tourists in 2005 we are anticipating good visitor numbers for the 2017 tour,’’ Davis says.
He expects it will take at least 12 months to see what effect the Brexit decision will have on NZ tourism.
It could take several years before the sector could gauge whether it had been a positive or negative move.
Davis is optimistic.
‘‘Britain is only one of our tourism markets ... and we now have growing markets in China and India.’’
‘‘The development of shoulder season offerings such as ’Te Kongahu’ at Waitangi are creating appeal for international visitors and already making a positive difference to visitor numbers for the whole of Northland year-round.’’
Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts says he did not expect any immediate impact.