Dollar drop hits travellers

Press, 29 May 1981, Page 25

Dollar drop hits travellers

With the New Zealand dollar falling a little in value weekly, and sometimes daily, New Zealanders planning holidays overseas are getting a nasty shock when they convert their currency. Tourists • booking two months in advance for a holiday are being asked to pat r an extra few dollars on top of their original bill to cover the change in the value of the dollar in the intervening weeks.

Some travel agents have noticed their .clients blanch visibly when told, in New Zealand dollarss, what the cost per night of only average accommodation in, for example, Australia or the United States will be. A room that costs §3B a night in Sydney becomes §5O when converted intn New Zealand dollars.

At the beginning of this week, one New Zealand dollar .was woith 77c in Australia, 87c in the United States, 42p in Britain, and 196 yen in Japan. A month ago, that same dollar was worth 78c ia Australia, and 89c in the United States.

A year ago, the New Zealand dollar was worth 86c in Australia. 9/c in the United States, 42p in Britain, and 220 yen in Japan, and two years ago, it was worth as much as Me in Australia, §,1.01 in tie United States, 50p in Britiin, and 224 yen in Japan. [ At present, to buy §AustlOO, ia tourist has to cough up §NZI3O. All travel agents spoken to yesterdaysaid that once people got as far as the office to book a trip, they had made up their minds' they were going to travel. Nobody gave up all tioughts of travelling when they learned about the increased costs because of the unfavourable exchange rate.

“It ij true, a lot of people are aghast when they find

out about the value of th dollar, but they get. used to it,” said Mr C. R. Wood, manager of Atlantic and Pacific Travel.

“I am sure the exchange rate is why travel to Europe and the United Kingdom has not increased at rhe same rate as in the past,” he said. However, people are still travelling to Australia and the United States in big numbers, in spite of the currency situation. But they would probably have decided to manage with less money to spend when the got there, said Mr Wood.

An increasing number of tourists were opting to pav for as much of their holiday as they could in advance, as a hedge against both rising prices and the devaluing dollar. At the same time, they had to decide if their monev

would earn more invested. “But overseas funds can be bought only within seven days of departure, so travellers have .io put up with buying their foreign currency at’the exchange rate at that time,” Mr Wood said.

Mr Dennis .Wall, the manager of Bollingbroke Travel, said he had found that most travellers were aware of the state of the New Zealand dollar.

“But nearer their* departure time, when we have to ask them for extra money io cover devaluation since they booked, their reactions tend to vary,” he said.

“Many are surprised when they learn the cost of staying in hotels overseas, when it is converted into New Zealand dollars.” * Mr Wall said that hotel rates looked exorbitant when

converted into New Zealand currency. A local businessman travelling through the United States could expect to pay §lOll a night for i winroom accommodation in a good, but not luxurious, hotel. Mediocre accommodation in Sydney was now §ss' to §6O a night a person, while the top hotels were about §9O a night. Meals were not included. Mr Greg White, the chief cashier at Thomas Cook Travel, said that most people changing currency seemed to be aware that the New Zealand dollar was low in the international market, but many were unaware just how low. Frequent comments were “Is that all I get?” and “I didn’t realise the New Zealand dollar had dropped that much.” But they still paid up, he said.

New Zealanders were allowed to take §NZIUUO a month spending money with them on holiday, and they were getting less and less for it all the time. Each week now the fall was noticeable. This week, §11)00 would buy about §867 American dollars; a week about it would have bought §87.-> American dollars. "The. people who really notice it are the ones who are converting thousands of dollars — the ones who are, perhaps, selling up and leaving New Zealand permanently and who have, sav, §15,000 to change into foreign currency.” Mr White said. "They stand to lose about §2OOO on the exchange rate.” One of the few places where a New Zealander gains on the exchange is Canada. There, his dollar is worth §1.04.