AFTER THE SUGAR RUSH
Holiday hotspots are crying out for Kiwis to spend up big this summer – but can backing our backyard really fill that gaping $3b tourism hole?
With many Kiwi travellers finding their wings unexpectedly clipped due to border restrictions, some centres are set for a bumper holiday season as ‘‘ staycation’’ numbers surge.
But a rush of summer holiday bookings won’t fill the gaping hole in New Zealand’s tourism industry, an expert warns.
Even if Kiwis holiday hard-out at home this summer, the tourism industry is still looking down the barrel of a $3 billion drop in spending.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive Stephen England-Hall says Kiwis simply cannot make up for the lack of bigger-spending overseas visitors.
He points out it takes 480 overnight trips by domestic visitors to generate the same spend as 40 overseas tourists, and every $178,000 in spending creates one job.
In recent years, the tourism season has stretched to well outside the summer months, with many overseas visitors coming from October to the end of March.
Over that six-month period last year, 1.3 million Kiwis splashed out $4.4b on holidaying overseas.
‘‘All 1.3 million of them would need to spend $2000 more each in New Zealand than they would have spent overseas,’’ says England-Hall. ‘‘Which is not going to happen. Even if we perform some miracles that gap will still be there.’’
Some larger centres could bear the brunt as Kiwis shun city breaks in favour of more basic getaways.
The adrenaline capital of Queenstown has a population of about 40,000. At the summer peak that can almost triple.
More than 60 per cent of the three million annual visitors to the alpine town were from overseas, according to Tourism NZ.
Compare that with the likes of Taranaki, where the tourism spend is much lower ($380m in the year to August 2020), but an estimated 80 per cent comes from domestic visitors.
With the torrent of international tourists stemmed for the foreseeable future, Queenstown is hoping to boost the number of Kiwis coming in over summer and beyond.
Destination Queenstown this week began a 10-week advertising blitz aimed at winning over Kiwis more inclined to head to the beach for a break.
Despite branding itself as the Home of Adventure in a series of advertisements, Destination Queenstown chief executive Ann Lockhart says the resort town has more to offer than adrenalinepacked outdoor adventures.
And while she concedes domestic visitors won’t be able to fill the large gap, especially over summer, Lockhart says there is optimism in Queenstown.
‘‘ We’ve had a bit of an uplift with school holidays [ in September] and with this campaign behind us or backing us we expect to see visitors return to us in summer.’’
While the thought of smaller crowds in places like Queenstown and Auckland may entice some domestic visitors, many Kiwis have more humble holiday tastes.
Shaun Fitzmaurice, spokesman for holiday home website Bachcare, says Christmas booking rates are already well ahead year-on-year in regions within
reasonable travel distances of major cities.
Nights booked in some parts of the Coromandel are 28 per cent up year-on-year, while Tauranga is up 23 per cent, Hawke’s Bay up 64 per cent and Nelson/Golden Bay up 32 per cent.
‘‘Some areas are quieter due to the lack of international traffic and lots of accommodation
options, such as Queenstown, but we expect some later bookings for those regions,’’ he says.
After a wave of cancellations when New Zealand first went into coronavirus lockdown in March, Bachcare has seen a resurgence in bookings, particularly around long weekends and school holidays, Fitzmaurice says.
As of Thursday, bookings for
Labour Weekend were up 46 per cent up on last year.
And it’s not just baches that people are flocking to, campgrounds are also doing a roaring trade.
Holiday Parks New Zealand (HPNZ) chief executive Fergus Brown says those parks are bucking the trend seen across many other types of accommo
dation like hotels, motels and even backpackers.
Data shows holiday parks recorded 358,700 guest nights in August, an 11.1 per cent or 35,700 increase on August 2019.
In comparison, hotel guest nights fell 47.2 per cent, motels were down 30.9 per cent and backpackers slumped 53.4 per cent.
Parks up and down the
country report being inundated with reservations after opening summer holiday bookings.
Many are now booked solid over Christmas and into January.
Brown says holiday parks offer accommodation at a competitive price and guests can also feel good about supporting local businesses and jobs at the same time.
‘‘If we can return a portion of what we would usually spend internationally to our local businesses this year, we’ll all be in a far better position coming out of the crisis.’’
The picture is far bleaker at the other end of the accommodation scale, Hotel Owners Association executive director Amy Robens says.
While Queenstown and the Bay of Islands are seeing some traction, summer for many hotels is looking ‘‘abysmal’’.
‘‘Many hotels are struggling, particularly in the likes of Auckland and on the West Coast, in what is a very flat market.
‘‘The summer trade is traditionally generally made up of high-yielding international visitors. We also hold a lot of conferences over the summer months and those just aren’t happening.’’
Robens says any increase in domestic visitors would help, but there are some ‘‘massive holes’ in hotel occupancy that Kiwis can’t fill.
‘‘We’re doing all we can with pricing and presenting the best packages we can to entice people to our regions.
‘‘But with domestic airfares increasing to offset the loss of international visitors, that’s a real stumbling block for Kiwis who are struggling. It’s not surprising that people are hesitant and leaving it to the last minute, if they commit at all.’’
Robens says there will be little relief for hotel operators until a two-way travel bubble with Australia is established.
‘‘ There’s a lot of pent-up demand and it’s really disappointing that a solution can’t be found to safely open the border with Australia.
‘‘ The Government needs to work harder, so we can put systems and practices in place to make that happen.’’
According to Tourism NZ, if trans-Tasman borders were to open by a ‘‘pragmatic estimate’’ of January 2021, Australian visitors could contribute $1b to the economy by September 2021.
In the meantime, capturing the $9b a year Kiwis spent on overseas travel pre-Covid will be critical to the sector’s recovery, England-Hall says.
‘‘It’s crucial that tourism also provides lasting benefits to our communities and enriches New Zealand.
‘‘Every time someone heads into a new region, they don’t just visit tourist attractions.
‘‘They shop at local retailers, book hotel rooms, eat at restaurants supporting employment and community growth.’’
There are already some positive signs, with the organisation’s latest research finding 71 per cent of Kiwis are planning a domestic getaway within the next 12 months, up from 64 per cent in May.
‘‘We think they probably thought they weren’t going to [holiday in NZ] because by Christmas they’d be able to go overseas, and now it’s becoming apparent that’s highly unlikely, and they’re going ‘ maybe we’re going to hang out in Milford instead’,’’ England-Hall says.
Perceptions of a New Zealand holiday are also on the rise, with those who rate it as ‘‘excellent’’ or ‘‘good’’ increasing to 62 per cent, up 14 per cent from the May survey.
‘‘Now more than ever we appreciate what a fantastic place New Zealand is,’’ England- Hall says.
‘‘ As Kiwis start exploring more of New Zealand, their opinions of what’s on offer have improved.’’
And while a post-Christmas slump is all but inevitable, Kiwis’ changing holiday habits could help cushion the blow.
Many are turning to short getaways, heading out of town for weekends rather than opting for longer stays, with an increased proportion taking those breaks over public and school holidays.
The North Canterbury resort of Hanmer Springs is a beneficiary of that behaviour pattern.
Hanmer Springs thermal resort manager Graeme Abbot says more North Islanders are visiting and staying three or four nights instead of 1.5 on average.
‘‘ I was talking to an Aucklander and she and her family had flown from Auckland and come to Hanmer for three nights.
‘‘They were doing a number of short breaks around New Zealand, and they were going home and then doing the same thing to Queenstown.’’
‘‘Now more than ever we appreciate what a fantastic place New Zealand is. As Kiwis start exploring more of New Zealand, their opinions of what’s on offer have improved.’’ Stephen England-Hall, right Tourism New Zealand chief executive