Have you ever visited Australia?

By Warren Gamble

South Islanders have no problem crossing Cook Strait, but nearly a fifth of North Islanders have not ventured to the Mainland, many preferring to cross the Tasman.

Tourism commentators say the findings of a New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll survey may simply underline the population drift north. The results also indicate that, given similar costs for interisland or transtasman travel, many people choose Australia.

The poll found that 80.2 per cent of North Islanders questioned had visited the South Island, while 96.5 per cent of South Islanders had made the journey north.

Of the northerners who had not gone south, 58 per cent had visited Australia, as had half the South Islanderrs who had not visited the North Island. In total, 73.5 per cent of the 663 adults questioned had been across the Tasman.

The Tourism Board is not required to do internal promotions, unlike its predecessor, the Tourist and Publicity Department – of "Don't Leave Town Till You've Seen the Country" fame.

The board chief executive, Paul Winter, said the 20 per cent no-show of North Islanders in the south could be explained partly by the ease and similar cost, especially for Aucklanders, of flying to Australia.

But New Zealand's small population meant airlines flying between islands did not have the economies of scale of transtasman flights.

Of the North Islanders polled, households earning $28,000 or less were least likely to have visited the South Island (73 per cent), compared with the nearly 87 per cent of households on more than $67,000.

Only 40 per cent of Pacific Islanders had gone south, compared with 75.9 per cent of Maori and 82.8 per cent of Pakeha.

Act and National supporters (95.5 per cent and 83.5) had high South Island exposure compared with Labour (76.4) and the Alliance (74.1).