The Hits Bay of Plenty radio host Lauren Mabbett recently left the country for the first time since Covid to explore the diverse offerings of the United States in a 12,000-kilometre road trip. Travel consultants say that post-Covid demand for international travel since the borders opened 12 months ago has been ‘an absolute turnaround’. The past year has surpassed a ‘bumper’ 2019 travel year by 25 per cent.
Lauren Mabett has always been passionate about the USA.
It began in childhood when radio host for The Hits Bay of Plenty fell in love with American TV shows, and then she lived in San Francisco for a year in her late 20s.
Now aged 38, she’s 12 states off having visited all 50, with her most recent trip to the US in June seeing her visit 21 states in 18 days, covering 12,000km in a hired six-seater Ford Expedition SUV.
This was her third American roadie and her first overseas trip since Covid.
“I saved and I didn’t hold back,” she says of her “boujee” holiday.
Joined by her former American flatmates Roque and Theresa, and their four-year-old daughter Lizzy, the idea was not to linger anywhere, but to keep on the move. To get up each day and set off after breakfast, going as far as they liked, and then find a place to sleep.
Both Air New Zealand and travel consultants say demand for overseas travel has returned to pre-Covid levels, if not higher, with some Kiwis booking flights much further in advance.
As a side note, flights can only be booked about 11 months in advance, but cruises can be booked into 2025.
Victoria Courtney, managing director and general manager of product for Flight Centre Travel Group, says “significant pent-up demand” has made availability challenging and led to an increase in pricing.
As capacity increases, pricing is predicted to drop “to reasonable levels”.
General manager of retail at You Travel, John Willson, says in former peak travel times, international business class airfares to European destinations cost around $7000 to 8,000. This year, that figure has doubled in some instances.
To make up for lost time and to get better value for money, New Zealanders are travelling for longer.
The 2022 year ending March 31, 2023 surpassed the “bumper” international travel year in 2019 by 25 per cent, says Willson.
Travellers around the world have filled up Europe and the Pacific Islands, and destinations not usually on the Kiwi radar and further afield, such as New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Tahiti, are now “much more in focus” and gaining popularity.
Courtney from Flight Centre says Japan is also “hugely popular”.
Air New Zealand’s most in-demand international destinations, going off passenger numbers for the past year, are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, LA and Singapore.
Tanya Aitken, owner/operator of House of Travel Tauranga Crossing, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and Rotorua, says “bucket list experiences” are also in hot demand with families.
She cautions that travel demand is “exceptionally high” throughout school holidays, despite peak periods meaning premium prices.
“Waiting is not for the faint-hearted,” she says.
“Don’t sit and wait for sales. You might have to decide on different timings or book further out to get within budget. The best advice is to plan now.”
Willson says the first part of last year was all about Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR travel). Now it’s Fully Inclusive Tours (FIT), which includes cruises, coach tours and long European holidays.
Despite price hikes, Kiwis are prepared to pay, and it equals “an absolute turnaround” for the industry.
Over Covid, the industry went from 5000 employees to 1500, and they’ve been actively recruiting staff since March 2022.
“People are actually hunting the travel agents out. Some are working by appointment only,” Willson says.
Tanya Aitken says 45 per cent of their business customers that have booked flights since Covid are new to House of Travel.
Eighty-five per cent of inquiries are from people aged under 50, with the over-70s “slightly” more risk-averse.
For all travellers, travel insurance has become critical, with insurance sales up 120 per cent, she says.
In terms of what’s new, there are very few countries that still have Covid requirements. But there are new entry requirements for countries which need to be checked before departure. Car hire demand around the world is higher than before, and technological advances are catching some travellers unaware. Therefore, travel consultants advise employing professionals for help.
Regarding safe travel, Air New Zealand says Kiwis shouldn’t be worried, but masks are still welcome on board for those that choose to wear them.
In a recent speech at the international tourism business event Trenz in May, Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran said there was a sense of “change and excitement” in the business.
Within 14 days of the full border re-opening, Air New Zealand had relaunched 16 routes, and as of May was back to flying to 30 international destinations.
They’d rehired 3000 staff, bought back their seven 777s, and invested in new turboprops and jets to add more seats on the domestic network.
Twelve million passengers flew with Air New Zealand this financial year – up 144 per cent from last year.
Since the borders re-opened, they had carried 825,000 international passengers. And around a third of them flew on to their regional network.
“Between March and October, we have 4.5 million seats on our international network. That’s brought capacity back to about 91 per cent of pre-Covid and bookings are steady,” Foran said.
Domestically, they are back to pre-Covid levels.
The airline is investing millions into new aircraft and retrofitting its fleet over the next five years; adding Skynest to its ultra-long-haul flights; marketing campaigns in key markets; technology; and its in-air and airport experience.
“It’s been tough, but the best is ahead of us.”
Fun times
For Lauren Mabbett, it was business as usual for travelling, and her road trip was a “smorgasbord” of the American states that she hadn’t yet visited.
Her trip started in San Francisco and took her to Las Vegas and then Antelope Canyon, where she and her friends faced a hurdle when their vehicle got stuck in sand on Native American reservation land, inside the Arizona desert.
It was outside the coverage area of AAA, and a three-hour drive from the nearest town.
They were eventually pulled out of the sand by passersby who demanded payment of $500 (they got them down to $40) before they hightailed it to Durango, Colorado.
From here, it was on to Denver to see Matchbox Twenty. Up over The Rocky Mountains to snow; a long drive across the midwest into Kansas; St Louis, Missouri; and then Nashville at the same time the Country Music Awards were on, and they attended a live Q&A screening for TV’s The Bachelor.
Then, on to Atlanta, Georgia to attend a Toad the Wet Sprocket concert at Frederick Brown Jr Amphitheater. Up through Kentucky, which brought tornado warnings. And into Indiana, where they stayed with a friend of a friend, who turned out to be a “gun nut” with 11 guns in his house for “protection”, including an AR-15.
After that eye-opening experience, it was on to Tennessee before Casey and Chicago, Illinois (the only stop where it rained); Wisconsin; Milwaukee; and Minneapolis, where they saw Impractical Jokers live.
Down to Iowa to the Buddy Holly crash site; South Dakota; Mt Rushmore; and Montana, where they stayed in a cabin and received a visit from resident bison ‘Jackson’ while they ate cheese and crackers on a veranda.
The final leg of the trip included Yellowstone; Idaho; heading down back through Nevada; and into California to attend a Blink 182 concert in Sacramento.
And the last day consisted of a Tinder date for Mabbett “hours before I had to be at the airport”.
“We matched, and within 30 minutes we were sitting at a bar having a drink,” she shares.
On the overall trip, every state was like a different country.
“Growing up [watching America] on TV, I was buzzing out at tumbleweeds, squirrels; we saw a lot of dead armadillos on the side of the road. I smelt a skunk - it smells a bit like burned rubber.
“I’m already planning the next trip in May for a road trip [to the states] above New York. After that, I’ll just have Alaska and Hawaii left.
“I just love it. Take my money. It’s so exciting to be travelling again.”
Domestic travel steady
While international travel is booming, not everyone can afford an overseas holiday.
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan says the novelty of travelling to other parts of New Zealand while borders were closed remains popular, with domestic visitor numbers in the coastal Bay of Plenty holding “steady”.
Around 30,000 domestic visitors and 4,500 international visitors per day visited the area from March to May.
Total visitor spending inside the region (recorded via electronic card transactions) was 10 per cent higher than last year in the same period due to increased international visitors.
The Bay saw strong growth during Covid-affected years, despite extra competition from other New Zealand regions, Nathan says.
“Most of our domestic visitors come from Auckland, Waikato and the rest of the Bay of Plenty, like Rotorua.”
