Orcs and All Blacks lure mega- rich to the unique NZ experience
about how New Zealand’s calendar of high- profile sporting events could be incorporated into a premium travel itinerary.
Chasing the premium market became a priority three years ago and Gardiner said Tourism NZ was focused on Australia, Europe, the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The US luxury market was performing “very well”, helped by a 30 per cent increase in capacity across the Pacific.
“They are interested in those ‘ only money can buy’ type of experiences — utter exclusivity.”
This could be a helicopter trip to a remote coast to catch seafood and cook it on a beach, going to high end golf courses or on cycling tours where they enjoy wine and food.
Gardiner said there were times when there was pressure on accommodation but at least four new luxury lodges had helped and her organisation was promoting low- season travel extensively.
Seasonz Travel designs bespoke tours for the ultra- rich, including billionaires.
Director Matt Lines said business was booming for those who could spend between $ 30,000 and $ 50,000 a day in some cases.
“Our business i s great at the moment, air capacity has certainly helped but many of our clients fly here privately.”
The company’s primary market was North America, which had traditionally been strong, but it did get nuggets of gold from the Middle East, Europe and Asia, a market which was growing.
His firm runs tours for between 200 and 300 parties a year, many of them families.
The company works with Weta Workshop and has flown some of their prosthetics experts down to Queenstown to dress a family up as orcs and dwarfs to act out Lord of the Rings scenes.
Other clients loved fishing and diving — using a chopper to get to the coast.
” It’s a Kiwi experience but with a luxury mode of transport. No matter if someone is worth billions, a lot of the motivation i s to do the simple things that Kiwis do.”
The mega- rich also liked the relative anonymity here.
“Having a coffee in a cafe, fly fishing in a braided river with no one here for miles is their idea of luxury.
“We have business people who have definite profile overseas and couldn’t walk down the street in Manhattan or Beijing but here they are nobody and they love that mental break.”
Select NZ also runs tours for the mega- rich and its business development manager, Guy King, said the company had had its best season ever.
However, he was worried at the high volume of visitors.
“We are in danger of all our visitors destroying the things they come here to see.”
Some clients had bad experiences with overpriced hotels and poor service.
King said discouragement of tipping worked against improved service.
Poor pay in the hospitality sector meant staff were transient and often unmotivated and service was not celebrated in this country.
“The Americans do want to tip for very good service.”
Air Center One services private jets in Auckland and Queenstown and its chief executive, Robin Leach, said the past summer was the best season ever.
Numbers of private planes — including $ 90 million Gulfstream G650s which have the range to fly direct to New Zealand from deep within the United States or China — were up by 14 per cent on the previous summer.
Between December and March there were 70 private aircraft movements in Queenstown.
That meant there was pressure on infrastructure and visiting jets had been “squeezed in like sardines” on the runway ramp at the resort town.
“If you haven’t made money this summer you’ll never make it,” said Leach.
He said, though, that there were signs of a peak and there was resistance by the rich to high accommodation and other costs.
Matt Lines of Seasonz Travel