Tourism industry confident ahead of Rugby World Cup

Thursday 28 July 2011

Tourism operators’ confidence in the next three months for the industry has increased, with many expecting the Rugby World Cup to have a positive impact, according to Ministry of Economic Development research.

The Tourism Industry Monitor showed almost half of all respondents to the survey of businesses expected demand to improve in the next three months compared to the same period last year. The tourism business confidence index is at 131, the highest since it began in June 2009. The business confidence index is based on firms’ expectations of profitability.

Peter Ellis, Tourism Research and Evaluation Manager at Ministry of Economic Development, said the upcoming rugby event is seen as the biggest positive influence on demand in the next three months.

“Hopefully the World Cup will be a shot in the arm for the industry which has faced such a tough time this year. Many tourism operators also appear less concerned about the negative impacts of events like the Christchurch earthquake than was the case a few months ago”.

Concerns about the impacts of the Christchurch earthquake, international incidents such as the Japan tsunami and downturns in international markets have all dropped since the last Monitor, released in May.

The expected increase in demand is positive in the North Island but negative in the South Island, where the Christchurch earthquake has impacted on tourism and led to the withdrawal of several major Rugby World Cup games.

The Tourism Industry Monitor, released quarterly by the Ministry of Economic Development’s Tourism Strategy Group, is an online survey that measures business performance and expectation from online respondents. There were 473 respondents to the current survey.

ENDS

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