More U.S. tourists to N.Z.

Press, 23 September 1980, Page 23

More U.S. tourists to N.Z.

By JOHN HUTCHISON San Francisco Travel.. from North America to New Zealand sprinted forward in the first three months of 1980 in spite of several adverse factors inhibiting international tourism generally, according to New Zealand’s senior travel commissioner for the United States and Canada. Mr Len Hunt, whose headquarters are here, said that 97 per'Cent more visitors went to New Zealand last March than had gone in March, 1979, accelerating a pace that quickened in January, 1980. For the year ending in March, travel from the United States to New Zealand exceeded that of the previous year by 19 per cent, and from Canada by 25 per cent. He said the causes of the increase cannot be precisely identified and appear to lie in a com-

bination of factors: introduction of lower air fares, entry into the South Pacific trade by Continental Airlines, which is conducting an unusually effective advertising campaign, and an intensive promotion , campaign by the Government Tourist Office. The travel - industry, is showing signs of radical change in the 1980 s, some of which suggest advantages for New Zealand and some with ominous portent for all the international travel future, Mr Hunt believes. “The travel industry as we know it is becoming obsolete,” he said. Deregulation of airlines in the United States to allow great freedom in choosing routes and setting fares, the swift advance of inflation, a continuing fuel crisis, soaring hotel rates and the advent of the “open commission,” are

among the unsettling developments. “Open commission” is an impending practice under which travel agents -would no longer be paid a standard percentage of the price of the tickets they sell. “The whole travel scene must be termed precarious” in the economic sense, Mr Hunt said. However, New Zealand is now drawing increasing tourist trade while travel to most of the world is diminishing. The exchange rate in New Zealand is relatively favourable to North Americans, as are internal travel costs there, and reasonable fares, just now being restructured, promise more flexibility than in the past Carriers, Air New Zealand in particular, have been criticised by travel agents during the past year for encumbering otherwise attractive bargain fares with awkward conditions.

All the lines flying to New Zealand from the United' States have filed notices of new services and new fare structures which will be more usable for the public and less complicated for the travel agents, Mr Hunt said. -