Tourist action group will combat fallout from US attacks

By SIMON HENDERY tourism writer

Tourism leaders have formed an action group to monitor any damage to the $5 billion inbound visitor market in the wake of the United States terrorist attacks and, if necessary, to counter-attack.

After three years of strong growth, the industry is braced for a bout of international travel phobia.

It also fears that Air New Zealand's financial crisis and its cutting adrift of Ansett in Australia will have flow-on effects for this country's image as a travel destination.

A meeting of industry leaders in Auckland at the weekend resulted in the formation of an action group made up of representatives of Tourism New Zealand, the Inbound Tour Operators Council and the Tourism Industry Association.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said the group would reiterate to the Government the importance of Air New Zealand to the industry.

The group would meet this week and aimed to keep the industry informed as the impact of Air New Zealand's woes and the terrorist crisis became clearer.

Mr Hickton said there was no evidence that Australians our biggest inbound market were cancelling New Zealand holidays as a backlash to Air New Zealand's grounding of Ansett, with the direct loss of 16,000 Australian jobs.

The president of the Inbound Tour Operators Council, Don Gunn, said his own travel firm had received only two cancellations from 160 Americans due here next month.

But the real impact would not be known for a few weeks, which was when the tourist season usually picked up.

Feedback from Tourism New Zealand's international offices suggests forward bookings for trips here are down, as travellers wait to see how the US reacts to the attacks.

But Mr Hickton said there was not a lot of evidence that people were cancelling trips they had already booked.

The group will also be looking at whether there is a market opportunity.

Mr Hickton said that during the Gulf War, tourism here had held up better than in many other countries. That meant it was well positioned to sell itself as a "safe haven" destination during the present crisis.

Any change to the way New Zealand marketed itself as a destination would not involve changing the "100 per cent pure" marketing campaign, but would mean targeting campaigns to specific countries.

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