The tourism sector is set for a strong summer as overseas visitor arrivals and card spending track towards pre-pandemic levels, Tourism Minister Stuart Nash says.
All measures were showing that despite two years of closed borders, there was strong demand from international tourists to visit New Zealand, Nash said in Queenstown on Friday.
It had been a tough two years for the industry, he said.
“The commitment and dedication of the incredible people in the sector means we will come out of these past two years stronger and ready to embrace a forward-thinking, sustainable tourism sector.”
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International visitor numbers are expected to get near pre-pandemic levels, the minister of tourism says.
About 145,250 overseas visitors arrived in the four weeks to October 26 and more than 10,000 working holiday visa holders had arrived this year.
International card spending was also at 88% of pre-Covid levels in 2019 in the same four-week period to September 25 this year.
Queenstown experienced a record winter, with visitor spending significantly higher than in pre-Covid-19 ski seasons.
“It is also fantastic to see cruises also return to ports all around New Zealand,” Nash said.
Peter Meecham/Stuff
The Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship docked at Lyttelton Port this week, the first large cruise ship for 11 years.
“Over 40 cruise vessels are expected for the 2022/23 cruise ship season, bringing an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 visitors to our shores.”
The economic boost from the cruise season was expected to be between $350 million to $510m, he said.
It was notable that about 19% of total bed nights booked for 2022/23 were from international visitors and 19% of great walks bookings were made by international visitors.
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Places to stay on the Milford Track sold out in three minutes as overseas tourists joined domestic travellers booking their New Zealand summer holidays.
“Places on the Milford Track were fully reserved in a record three minutes when bookings opened earlier this year,” he said.
Nash also noted that August was the first month in nearly two-and-a-half years when a holiday had been the most popular reason for travel by overseas visitors.
From April 2020, “visiting friends and relatives” had been the primary reason for travel to New Zealand.
STUFF
New Zealand had about 20,000 tourism businesses pre-Covid and about 126 key ones received more than $270m in grants and loans to save them from possible closure.
The Government supported the tourism sector through the pandemic, with packages including the $400m tourism recovery package, the $200m tourism communities plan and the $54m innovation programme for tourism recovery, he said.
He was aware the increase in visitors would put extra pressure on tourism and hospitality workers and hoped the $2m Go with Tourism package would help address labour supply issues in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
“New Zealand has the opportunity and the capability to become the most innovative and future focussed tourism destination in the world. I’m really excited about what this summer will bring.”
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Labour MP Rachel Brooking, Tourism MInister Stuart Nash, Ziptrek owner Trent Yeo and Queenstown Lakes Mayor Glyn Lewers discussing projections for tourism during the upcoming summer.
Queenstown Ziptrek owner Trent Yeo said despite the fact most people booked activities a day or two beforehand, but he already had bookings for Christmas and summer.
“My view is we’ll be looking at around 2019 numbers, and it seems like we’ll be OK for staffing because we’ve been able to attract the right people…and thanks to government support we’ve also maintained all of our leadership group.”
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Glyn Lewers said many small business owners in Queenstown will be under strain due to a lack of staff.
“If we can’t provide the level of service and our offerings diminish then it might start becoming a reputational risk, and they go home.
“We want [visitors] to tell a really good story. We don’t want them to say it wasn’t the best story.”
