Triple challenge awaits tourism

Lake Wanaka is loved by tourists, but other countries are now competing with our attractions.

Competition from new exotic destinations, a growing number of budget airlines and the proliferation of modern technology are among the challenges facing the tourism industry, says Tourism Industry Association chief executive Fiona Luhrs.

She told the Tourism Industry Rendezvous New Zealand conference in Christchurch this week: "We are in a watershed period. Many of our accepted ways of doing things are changing or require rethinking. Not only are the needs and expectations of our consumers changing, but the consumers themselves are changing as a result of demographic and social trends."

The rise of budget airlines was encouraging more short-haul trips, particularly by a growing number of baby-boomers who had time on their hands and money to spend.

New destinations competing with New Zealand included India, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and parts of South America and Africa.

The modern traveller was also able to keep in touch and review their experiences almost instantly through the spread of technology including emails, online chatrooms and blogs.

Luhrs said the country had to maintain high standards in such a rapidly changing marketplace.

"We will never be a mass market - looking 10 years out, international visitor numbers are not forecast to exceed about 3.5 million a year," she said.

"The challenge is to keep the quality up, to keep ahead of what our type of international visitors want."

The industry would be hardly recognisable in 10 years' time because:

* More single people would be looking for personalised holidays.

* The over-50s would outnumber the younger generations.

* No-frills air travel would not be confined to short-haul trips.

* More people would be conscious of mass tourism's environmental impact.

"We would like to see much greater Government funding to drive private sector research into emission-friendly technologies and encourage commercial involvement in the manufacture and supply of bio-fuels," Luhrs said.

Her five-year vision would see the local tourism industry delivering export earnings of more than $9.5 billion on the back of 3.2 million visitors each year.

"Tourism is the fastest-growing sector in the world and the industry is working to ensure New Zealand is well positioned to attract its share of the global market."

To help meet the challenges, which also included a shortage of skilled labour, rising fuel costs, technological opportunities, currency fluctuations and the need for productivity improvements, the 10-year New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010 would be reviewed and extended until 2015.

The first five years of the industry strategy, which is overseen by the association with the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism New Zealand, was focused on setting the framework and raising awareness of the economic value of tourism.

Luhrs said: "This time it's going to be more about working with the industry and saying, 'Looking out 10 years from now, what are the challenges you see for running your business?'."

The review is expected to start in the next couple of weeks.

It is expected that a document will be produced by early next year and Luhrs was confident the industry would be up to the challenge.

"The tourism industry has shown it is resilient and flexible enough to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world."