The high kiwi dollar is changing our choices of travel destination, with overseas journeys significantly more popular.
April data from Statistics NZ showed that there was a 20,000 jump in Kiwis going overseas compared with April 2010 - up 12% to 182,500 "short term travel departures" by NZ residents, compared with 163,000 the previous April.
In fact, around 160,000 departures overseas for an April was the average for the past six years (2005 to 2010 inclusive).
While Australia is still the most popular desination, growth in travel to the 'lucky country' is low; it is Asia that is attracting the biggest growth, and Europe.
China saw a rise of more than 50% of Kiwis visiting in April compared with the same month a year earlier, Malaysia attracted almost double, and Vietnam 130%.
France and the UK also saw jumps of 50%.
With the British pound now costing 'only' NZ$2, and one euro costing just NZ$1.80, traveller's spending power has taken a big boost in the past few months.
It seems even better when the US$ is the travel currency of choice.
In contrast, the Aussie dollar seems expensive.
The local tourism industry is feeling the strain. Occupancy rates for New Zealand tourist accommodation were 36% of all 'guest nights' available, with lower international visitor numbers and fewer locals choosing to vacation in New Zealand. These numbers are down 5% on the same month the previous year.
Australians are making a similar choices.
When planning an overseas holiday, use our handy currency tool to ensure you buy your travel funds at the best rate.
28 Comments
I am surprised that so few choose a trip to the USA . ........ With the $Kiwi at near record levels against the green-back , and with US house prices back to where they were in 2002 ( yup , the housing boom has been wiped out ........ but the hang-over from the debt remains , bugger ! ) ...........
....... why aren't more Kiwis nipping off to America , to cherry-pick some house bargains there ? .......
"the US is just terrific" - well, I'm sure it is for some people but it really depends on what you're after. Personally I'd probably go crazy after a few hours "walking the streets", let alone a few weeks, especially if it involves popping into dozens of shops along the way (I'd rather walk NZ beautiful tracks). At the end of the day, I think that whether people choose to go there or not is about a little more than just the exchange rate.
As for buying a house, why not but if I went somewhere for the purpose of buying a house as an investment, I wouldn't call it a holiday. Maybe a business trip!
I agree, Gummy. A holiday in the US at the moment would be fantastic. And there is so much more to the US than California and Las Vegas, which seem to be the primary destinations for New Zealanders. It’s a huge and diverse country, with a lot to see. One of my recommended must sees (for the slightly older traveller) is New England in fall. Hire a car and go for a wander through Vermont, Massachusetts, end up in Boston and take the Acela Express down to New York. The shopping in the US is great too.
Your right you don't meet many Kiwis further afield than LA, Vegas and New York. On property most don't invest overseas further than Australia and those a little more informed may be concerned about catching a falling knife. Takes time to really understand a local property market.
Yes, gotta love that Security Theatre!
Hands up who wants to stand in line at LAX for 6 hours waiting your turn to forever sign away your rights and identity to the FBI?
Who wants to spend a buttload of cash to be treated like an escaped rapist? Or a "terr'st"?
Hardly surprising that tourism revenue in the USA has been dropping like a stone. And the best bit is that with all that Security Theatre, *nobody* is any safer from the miniscule risk of "terr'sm".
I think AirNZ has started flying directly to Canada? maybe its because being treated like sh*t by a semi-literate American border guard half-wit with a big gun is objectionable...
Hell would freeze over before I ever fly via the US again....I'll go via Singapore.
regards
Steven looking for an anti-american angle as always :-)
If you transit LAX onto UK for example I understand it is a pain, I travel a dozen times a year through LAX and have never had any security hassels and it is not that intrusive, finger printing and retina scan, usually through the place in half an hour - airbridge to picking up a car, I can't be that lucky...sounds urban myth to me.
Air NZ travels into Vancouver, you end up with an interview everytime you travel through there more than twice a month from NZ so don't do that! More to do with offseason sking at Whistler.
Talking with a property developer friend in the weekend, he told me of a guy he met who's buying houses in Memphis Tennesse. He's paying 12 k for a house renting it out at 800 a month. The interesting bit is, he then sells them to Kiwi propery investors for 56k nz$. Obvioulsy a few Kiwis have never been to Memphis and about to part with some money.
Im traveling lots this year, the deals are great but better from the other end. My daughter is home for a few weeks and got a ticket LAX to AKL for $440 US. Then the internal flight Air nz quoted me 250$, she got in LA fo120$. I love the States and get through LA in customs in about 40 min San Fran about 30 min.Just buying a car there to make it a bit easier rather than renting, my daughter needs it as well, so its a bit of a dad helping out thing. I have had enough of Air nz's old 747s they are getting a bit old, last time even the cabin crew were in their 60's, I mean whats with that, enough to make you fly Singapore, where the girls are a delight for a man married 25 years next week.
I think you should put that in it context if you fly premium economy or business class go via B 777 Air New Zealand if you have to do economy go B 747s...big difference is space in economy class from the new planes.
Want first class go a top Asian/middle east carrier.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10730511
Close your eyes and keep spending!
".... why aren't more Kiwis nipping off to America , to cherry-pick some house bargains there ? ...."
Gummy - that comment could be made by so many Kiwis and is so typical of why western countries such as ours are were we are - Go to the US, and while we're there, lets make buy a house, the only investment we think we know something about but constantly prove we know very little.
Put it this way , if the Gummster was a property enamoured investor ( which I am not ) , why accept a 2 or 3 % yield on a rental in NZ or in Oz , when US house prices have plummeted back to 2002 prices ...... and a tidy bonus that the $US has plumbed the swampy depths , just as the $Kiwi is in full flight .
........ [ ... disclosure : I do live in a bamboo hut on a beach in Asia . $NZ 60 000 for the 1200 m. sq. lot , and about $NZ 15 000 for the hut ........ well , it is a very comfy hut ! .... ]
".... why aren't more Kiwis nipping off to America , to cherry-pick some house bargains there ? ...."
Perhaps because whilst the government via JP Morgan welcomed a further 400,000 citizens into the foodstamp program since the beginning of the year (taking the total to 4.4m recipients) - word is, unlike our government, they don't intend to subsidise housing for the masses.
Aspiring to become a landlord in the US would be utter madness.
oops, got my decimal points in the wrong places - make that an additional near 4million taking the total on foodstamps to 43million.
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/02/03/USDA-43-million-on-food-stamps/UPI-56301296757657/
And the irony - poverty is good for the economy!
Research shows that every $5 in new SNAP benefits generates as much as $9 in economic activity, the USDA says.I'm with you it's absolute BS - a fine example of the paradigm in neoliberal thinking that still pervades in the US. What is unbelievable is that a government department seriously pushes this kind of econo-crap-babble AND the MSM print it.
Much like JK and Treasury's mantra about the CHCH EQ being 'good' for our economy.
Only the foodstamp program (and it's PR claim) has an even more sinister intent. It, like any middle class welfare system, exists to support the corporocrats intended globalisation of the working poor.
Well I am just back from a week in Bali, and that trip was because the deal offered was too good to turn down, it basically worked out that the flights were free.
Interesting thing was that both flights were only 50% full, which is something I have never seen. Made for a good trip though, being able to stretch out over four seats:)
I also got the distinct impression that they are having to work pretty hard to make a living around the tourist resorts with most restaurants empty. But my first time to Bali so hard to say for sure.
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