Soggy December a drain on tourism dollar

Shocking weather at the end of 2004 cost a Christchurch tourist operator up to $15,000 a day as the country tried to cope with one of the wettest Decembers on record.

Canterbury skydiving operator Skydiving.nz said it could do up to 50 jumps a day. However the December weather led to a large number of cancellations, losing the company up to $15,000 a day, Tourism New Zealand's magazine Tourism News said in its latest issue.

The company said its operational days in December were down 66 per cent compared with the previous year.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said the rotten December weather disappointed many international visitors.

The cold and wet weather also dampened retail sales.

Christchurch had more rain than in any December since weather recordings began in 1863.

Christchurch beat the wet-day record set in 1902 by 17 days and in the 10 days until Christmas Eve, it rained every day.

Tourism New Zealand said in spite of the very bad December, many operators had reported an upsurge in business for the rest of the summer.

- NZPA