Tourism industry gearing up for busiest season ever

By SIMON HENDERY tourism writer

The number of overseas visitors arriving in the country is on the rise again - another sign that the impact of Sars is fading and that this summer's peak season could be the tourism industry's busiest ever.

Last month 135,400 short-term overseas visitors arrived in the country - 2100 or 1.6 per cent more than during the same month last year.

Releasing the figures yesterday, Statistics New Zealand said it was the first time since April - before the outbreak of the Sars virus - that monthly arrivals had been higher than for the same period last year.

However, the figures show travel-wary Asians are continuing to shun overseas holidays. Total arrivals from Asia were down 15.5 per cent compared with August last year.

Japan - New Zealand's biggest Asian tourist market and one of the most lucrative globally - slumped 18.5 per cent.

Just under 12,000 Japanese visitors arrived here last month, down from 14,700 in August last year.

The Asian slump was offset by strong growth in visitor numbers from Britain and Australia.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said the country's profile in Britain remained strong. This week New Zealand was voted top destination by readers of the influential British travel magazine Wanderlust.

But Tourism NZ expects the Asian market to remain problematic in the short term and is predicting arrivals from Japan and the rest of Asia will be down 5 to 10 per cent during the last three months of the year compared to the same quarter last year.

The Government tourism marketing agency says "it will be some time before these markets return to the levels of 2002". It has boosted its marketing spending in Japan in a bid to turn around the fall in travellers.

"We are still seeing the impact of an uncertainty in the global situation," said Hickton. "However, the growth out of the UK and Australia and a lessening of some of the decline in Asia bode well for the future."

The country's major tourist gateway, Auckland Airport, is also gearing up for a record summer. It said this week that its preparations to accommodate an unprecedented increase in international seat capacity this summer were well under way.

Chief executive Don Huse said the airport was expecting an increase of more than 30 per cent in aircraft "slots" this summer. Two aircraft stands away from the terminal are being built to cope with the arrivals.