Enticing Australians to Southland
The job of enticing Australians back to Fiordland and Southland as a tourist destination begins this week in Sydney.
Visit Fiordland manager Stu Cordelle will be among the 60 tourism representatives nationwide with Tourism Minister Stuart Nash at the Tourism New Zealand Regional Showcase in Sydney.
Considering the impacts of the pandemic on the tourism industry, Cordelle expected to see many new faces on this visit, which meant he would be introducing many operators to
Southland. ‘‘An awful lot of people have left the industry,’’ Cordelle said.
He will be selling the idea of how easy it is to get to Southland and Fiordland, especially for tourists from Australia’s east coast. ‘‘We are only three hours away, and it doesn’t have to be a once-only trip.’’
There was also the fact that New Zealand was a cheaper travel destination for Australians than America, for example, and the carbon footprint was smaller, Cordelle said.
The latter was an important point because there had been a global shift towards considering the environmental impact of travel, he said.
The pair would also be talking to operators about barriers to travelling to New Zealand and Cordelle anticipated that the availability of flights might be one of them as airlines take time to ramp back up.
Visit Fiordland falls under
Great South, and it will be the regional development agency’s first trade show since the Covid19 pandemic put a halt to international travel.
‘‘We’re so happy to be able to get out there and see people in person again,’’ Cordelle said.
Announcing the trip last week, Nash said: ‘‘The regional showcase in Sydney is designed to reignite trans-Tasman travel, and to encourage potential Australian visitors to think about and book a trip here.’’
The Australian market had previously accounted for 40% of international arrivals or about 1.55 million people, he said, adding that many would visit three or four times in their lifetimes.
‘‘The trade show is an opportunity for regional operators to reconnect with Australian travel trade businesses, showcase the unique tourism attractions in their regions, and build new business relationships.’’