Air NZ taps expanding China market
Chinese visitor increase prompts extra flights.
A 20% increase in Chinese visitor has prompted Air New Zealand to introduce two new flights to China.
The weekly direct services will fly between Auckland and Beijing, and Auckland and Shanghai, commencing in early December.
This could be seen as bad timing, given that the World Cup is expected to bring a significant international tourist influx from September. An Air New Zealand spokeswoman told NBR that Rugby World Cup ticket sales data and international visitor forecasts showed China was not a major source market for World Cup tourist traffic. Peak demand was during the December to March summer season.
Air New Zealand currently operates five weekly China return services – two to Beijing and three to Shanghai.
Currently New Zealand’s fourth largest tourism market, China is also one of the fastest growing. 122,000 Chinese visited New Zealand in 2010, up 20% on the previous year. Tourism from China is expected to continue growing by about 8.4% per year between now and 2016. Collectively Chinese visitors to New Zealand spent $382 million in the year to September 2010.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said that attracting Chinese visitors was vital to New Zealand’s future tourism growth. “Expectations are that the number of international departures from China will double over the next five years.”
Air New Zealand Deputy chief executive Norm Thompson said the China market had enormous potential for the airline and for the New Zealand tourism industry as a whole. "Offering a daily direct service is an important step.”
New International Air Transport Association figures show China is the fastest growing market in the world for international passenger traffic.
Charlotte Woodfield
Thu, 17 Feb 2011
Thu, 17 Feb 2011
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Related News
Related News
Air NZ taps expanding China market
12409