Kiwi puts pressure on euro tourists

COLIN SMITH/Fairfax NZ

ENGLISH TOURISTS: Cristina and Ben Astin in the Nelson region.

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A high kiwi dollar against the euro is hurting the tourism industry as the cost of visiting soars for Europeans.

Tourism operators are increasingly worried that unless more effort is put into marketing New Zealand in Europe, visitor numbers will drop significantly.

Inbound Tour Operators Council president Martin Horgan said in the past two years the kiwi had risen 21 per cent against the euro, making travelling to New Zealand more expensive for Europeans.

Add to that the long distance they have to travel and it's becoming difficult to entice Europeans here.

"These traditional markets remain important to tourism. Declining arrivals from Europe will affect every corner of the country," he said.

European visitors tended to stay longer and spend more while they were here than visitors from other countries.

"The beauty of European tourists is that they stay so long. Typically anything from 24 to 30 nights is pretty normal. They're very adventurous and they reach every corner of New Zealand."

Chinese visitors, by comparison, tended to come for three or four nights.

"My concern is that during these tough times it's easy for Tourism New Zealand to get good results out of China – a market that's going to grow regardless of how much we spend there. But Europe is a much more difficult proposition and it's not something I want to see the industry giving up on just because the dollar is high.

"We can't afford to say `too hard' and not invest," Horgan said.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said the global financial crisis was having an impact on international travel from European markets, and the high dollar added to the problem.

"There's no doubt the dollar presents extra challenges to generating visitors because it affects demand as well as spending."

Bowler said his organisation had continued to invest in a range of marketing programmes in the United Kingdom and western Europe, particularly in the German-speaking economies, with activities such as trade training, joint promotions with airlines, international media visits and advertising campaigns.

"These things are designed to appeal to those with an interest and ability to travel here, with particular focus on higher value market segments to overcome financial barriers," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News