Hawaii Kiwis' favourite stopover

Demand to visit Hawaii has tripled, booking firm Expedia says.

Nearly three-quarters of New Zealanders on long-haul flights like to break their journey with a stopover.

Kiwis aged over 50 are most likely to have included a stopover on their overseas holiday, according to online booking firm Expedia.

Seventy-seven per cent of older travellers make a stopover, compared to 68 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 years old.

The favourite stopover spot for Kiwis is Hawaii, followed by Singapore - through which air capacity is set to increase by nearly a third, and London.

Georg Ruebensal, managing director of Expedia Australia and New Zealand, said the arrival of Hawaiian Airlines had helped boost the popularity of Hawaii.

"Increased capacity drives competition. Hawaiian Airlines has done a great job marketing the destination to Kiwis and the introduction of the carrier has brought overall ticket prices to Hawaii down approximately 18 per cent," Ruebensal said.

"Coupled with the strength of the New Zealand dollar against the United States dollar and the family-friendly options Hawaii offers, we have seen demand to Hawaii triple."

Nearly three-quarters of Kiwis who have included an overnight stopover in a holiday regard it as a bonus holiday, said a study conducted among 1004 New Zealanders aged 18 and over.

Some 70 per cent agree that overnight stopovers help them combat jet lag.

The study also found on average New Zealanders spend around 41.6 days planning their holiday before departure with choice of a destination taking up the largest proportion of this time (19 per cent), followed by transport (16 per cent) and accommodation (15 per cent).

A quarter of those surveyed spent less than one hour researching travel warnings and advice.

Ruebensal said warnings play an initial role but once a destination is chosen, travellers usually move on to other factors like flights and accommodation.

He said long-haul travel was on the rise and three quarters of New Zealanders intend to travel internationally in the next year.