Australia

Market Overview Australia’s economy has held up despite global economic turmoil in 2008/09. Interest rate cuts and a range of Government stimulus measures have helped insulate the country’s economy from the worst of the downturn and kept Australians travelling. New Zealand has seen the benefits of this, with record arrivals from Australia over winter. New Zealand’s profile will need to remain high as the economy returns to strength and Australians start to look again at long-haul travel.

New Zealand is the most-preferred international destination for Australian travellers. Three-quarters of those who visit here will do so more than once. More than half of Australians travel outside of New Zealand’s main tourism regions.

Australia is fast becoming an important source market for the cruise sector. Passengers from Australia increased 72 per cent in the 2008/2009 season and now account for almost one third of all international passengers. With more than 400,000 expatriate New Zealanders living in Australia, there is a strong base of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel.

Summer is the peak season for Australian visitors, but marketing by Tourism New Zealand and other industry players has helped make New Zealand a popular year-round destination. Record numbers of Australians visited New Zealand for the 2009 winter ski season.

Tourism New Zealand is currently running campaign activity year-round in Australia and is working closely with regions, airlines, operators and travel trade to promote New Zealand. Australians are confident researching and booking New Zealand holidays online and our campaign activity in this market makes the most of digital media channels.

Challenges for New Zealand include our short-haul status and the associated lack of urgency in planning a trip here. New Zealand competes closely with the UK and US, as well as with domestic Australian destinations, particularly Queensland. The expansion of low-cost airlines has also increased interest in travel to South East Asia.

Though New Zealand is well-positioned, the country needs to keep its profile high and product offering appealing, particularly as cheap airfares to other destinations fuel competition. While economic uncertainty has seen Australians stay closer to home in 2009, they will start thinking about long-haul travel again as the economic situation improves.

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