Call for better travel deals to tempt Kiwis
The tourism sector is being urged to target Kiwis by offering package deals to help fill the void left by overseas visitors – who may not return to New Zealand for another two years.
Professor David Simmons, a Lincoln University academic with nearly 40 years of teaching and researching tourism, believes borders may not fully open until March or June 2022.
It could take a year to create a vaccine for Covid-19, as well as further time to test, manufacture and distribute ‘‘in excess of a billion doses’’.
Overseas visitor numbers might not reach their pre-Covid19 levels for a decade, he said.
The immediate challenge was to present experiences and products in ways to entice New Zealanders to travel within their own country, Simmons said.
Domestic traveller expenditure had some marked differences from international, he said.
Although domestic spending accounts for more than half of all tourist expenditure in 13 of the 16 regions, Kiwi travellers spend differently.
‘‘A smaller proportion is spent on accommodation and hospitality services and a larger proportion on retail shopping, which suggests a one-for-one substitution is not easily made.
‘‘Traditionally New Zealanders build their own holidays on individual components, but some new packages are emerging such as combining accommodation and scenic flights into a single short-break experience.’’
Some regions, like the West Coast, were doing a ‘‘marvellous job’’ of bundling up packages for the domestic market.
Chris Roberts, chief executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa, felt June 2022 was at the more ‘‘pessimistic end’’ of the forecasts.
‘‘We still think it’s possible to have Australian visitors back in
2020. They are 40 per cent of all international arrivals,’’ he said.
‘‘Until a fortnight ago we thought it would have been possible in July, but we now have the outbreak in Melbourne, which will delay discussions, but if that’s contained then certainly by September or October it’s possible we will link in with Australia.’’
The sector had many options for attracting domestic tourists, including building packages or offering shorter, cheaper activities.
‘‘Operators will also have to consider what sort of product Kiwis are looking for and in some cases it will be a different product than for an overseas visitor.’’
Before coronavirus, about
75 per cent of visitors to Christchurch’s International Antarctic Centre were from overseas. General manager Todd Schmidt said the centre was offering a discount on adult prices and extending the kids-go-free scheme until October to attract domestic visitors.
‘‘We’re knocking $10 off. You think on the face of it, it isn’t much, but we’re going under the
$50 mark,’’ he said. Museums and attractions had huge operating costs and needed to strike the balance between low prices and remaining in business, he said.
‘‘We are listening and making it more affordable. The value for a local is a loyalty pass. For $11 more they can come as often as they like over 12 months.’’
Paul Anderson, chief executive of NZ Ski, which owns the Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Mt Hutt skifields, said they were offering Kiwis the sort of package deals normally reserved for Australians.
‘‘We want North Islanders who might normally go to Queensland, or have never tried skiing, to come south.’’
Nearly half the skiers at their Queenstown fields would normally be from overseas, he said.
‘‘Operators who can adapt will survive the downturn – those who don’t respond quickly enough will really struggle.’’
They had been busy, but the discounts needed to replace overseas tourists with locals took a financial toll, Anderson said.
Government aid, including the Department of Conservation waiving concession fees for using public land, would help.