Tourism boost after unrest

Press, 21 April 1986, Page 20

Tourism boost after unrest

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

Political crises in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean, and terrorism in Europe, are generating millions of dollars in extra tourism for New Zealand.

“Every time a bomb goes off I thank God I’m a New Zealander — and another thousand tourists cancel their holidays in Europe,” said the Minister of Tourism, Mr Moore.

“It is a sad state of affairs, but its giving New Zealand a comparatively positive image to promote,” he said. “Security is now a major factor in tourism.”

A recent poll by the biggest travel agents’ magazine in the United States has found that, after the United States domestic market, and the fringe markets of Canada and Mexico, the Pacific now rated top as a holiday destination by Americans.

Another poll in the "Travel Weekly” magazine had found 87 per cent of travel agents predicting that terrorist incidents would affect their international business this year.

Mr Moore said that last year the New Zealand Tourism Council had forecast a compound 6.75 per cent annual growth in

visitors from the United States, but in the 1985 year the number arriving had risen 22 per cent to about 123,000. The number of United States visitors was going up month by month. The figures for January, the latest to hand, showed a 45 per cent rise on January, 1985. It was the third month in succession in which American visitors had risen more than 44 per cent The number of American visitors for the 12 months ended January had been 127,000. a rise

of 24.5 per cent on the previous year. “It is not going over the edge now to predict that the number of American tourists will grow 20 per cent and up to 30 per cent this year,” Mr Moore said.

The number of visitors from Canada had risen almost 30 per cent to about 30,000 last year.

As a result of northern hemisphere insecurity, 25,000 berths on Mediterranean cruises had been cancelled in the last four months and Royal Cruise

Lines were now repositioning their de luxe Golden Odyssey liner to the South Pacific In November. Mr Moore said he believed the Royal Viking Line’s Pacific programme would also now be extended. That alone was worth millions of dollars to New Zealand. Northern insecurity was not the only factor behind the visitor boom, he said. New Zealand had been making a concerted push through policy changes and promotion.