Brits may tighten travel purse
"If the sudden weakness in the pound is maintained, that's going to make all Brits think twice about taking an overseas holiday." Chris Roberts Tourism Industry Aotearoa
The tourism industry is waiting to see if financial volatility in the wake of the Brexit makes visiting Brits more frugal, or deters them from coming here.
United Kingdom visitors pumped more than $1 billion into the New Zealand economy last year, and they are already snapping up travel packages for next year’s British and Irish Lions’ tour.
Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts said he did not expect any immediate impact from the British vote to quit the European Union because holiday bookings were generally made well in advance. Added to that, almost half the 213,000 British visitors in the year to May came to see friends and family, and they were less influenced by currency changes. But Roberts said that down the track, the value of the British pound could begin to bite.
‘‘If the sudden weakness in the pound is maintained, that’s going to make all Brits think twice about taking an overseas holiday, whether it’s to New Zealand or anywhere else, so that’s going to have a dampening effect on outbound travel.
‘‘The last time we saw that was in 2008 with the global financial crisis and there was a significant fall in travel from the UK, those that were travelling were, ironically, going to Europe. [Travel to New Zealand] was down at least a quarter from previous highs.’’
Roberts said British visitors spent $5200 per head on average, and rugby supporters were big spenders, but an unfavourable exchange rate could prompt them to close their wallets.
‘‘There’s plenty of evidence that visitors budget in their own currency so that when the currency converts to fewer New Zealand dollars, then they’re a bit more frugal with their spending. It they’re feeling less wealthy, you might see an increase in supermarket spending and a decrease in restaurant spending.’’
Roberts said the number of tour packages sold to date was confidential, but they were going fast. During the 2005 Lions tour UK residents made up more than half the 21,000 visiting fans, he said, and that was likely to be the case in 2017 with expats from Malaysia and Australia also expected to attend.