Tourism faces capacity problems

By Felicity Anderson, Nzoom.com Business News Editor

Tuesday 21st May 2002

No Vacancies signs may proliferate New Zealand next summer.

The tourism industry is currently revelling in record visitor arrival numbers, but it admits it has a growing capacity problem.

George Hickton, Tourism New Zealand's Chief Executive, says seasonality is the burning issue for the industry.

"Clearly New Zealand will be very full over the coming (summer) season and we're working to extend the peak NZ season," he said at Trenz, the industry's trade show in Auckland on Tuesday.

Despite the capacity problems, Tourism NZ is still working hard at trying to sell NZ as a destination in its own right, rather than a clip-on to Australia.

While the government funded marketing organization had worked with Australia in joint campaigns in Latin America and the United States, post the September 11 terrorists' attacks on the world Trade Center and the Pentagon, it is seeking to show the NZ industry has product of its own - and is safe and peaceful.

"I have always said New Zealand is geographically fortunate," Hickton said. "The world seems to be rediscovering this part of the world."

John Moriarty, Chief Executive of the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand (TIANZ), says the latest statistics show that in the month of March more than 200,000 international visitors came to New Zealand - an increase of 14% on the same month the previous year.

He says the cohesiveness of the industry has ensured its good financial performance, but the association is working to reduce dependence on double-digit visitor numbers growth for its financial sustainability and putting an emphasis on quality, profitability and community values.

TIANZ is championing the Greeen Globe 21, a voluntary environmental excellence programme, Moriarty says.

But while it sees global climate change initiatives as complementary, the industry is concerned about the Kyoto Protocol the NZ government has said it intends to ratify because it knows "that even high principles and political virtuosity must be related to the bottom line of all business - particularly small businesses".

Moriarty says TIANZ doesn't think sufficient work has been down to understand the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on industry sectors. As a result it has commissioned Landcare research and Lincoln University to undertake a full impact analysis of Kyoto on the tourism industry.

Moriarty says the results of that work should start flowing to TIANZ members by early June.

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