Everything’s bigger in Texas! - travel stateside on the rise

Everything’s bigger in Texas! - travel stateside on the rise

Flight Centre NZ reported a 13 percent increase in bookings to North America in 2014, compared to 2013

With Air New Zealand’s announcement of a new route to Houston this growth is expected to continue

Air New Zealand this morning announced they will be opening a new route between Auckland and Houston (Texas, USA), a move Flight Centre NZ are very excited about.

Simon McKearney, Flight Centre NZs General Manager Product says, “America has always been a popular destination for Kiwis and the new route between Auckland and Houston can only mean further good things for travel stateside.”

In 2014 Flight Centre NZ reported a 13 percent increase in bookings to the USA, compared to the previous year, with more Kiwis looking to the states as a long haul destination than ever before.

Figures released by Statistics New Zealand also demonstrated a growing appetite for America with the USA coming in second as the most popular destination in 2014 for New Zealand citizen trips abroad. There were 164,800 departures in 2014, an increase of just over 15 percent on 2013.

Mr McKearney says, “Traditionally Los Angeles has been the key transport hub for New Zealanders visiting the USA – it’s a popular stopover and a winner amongst families looking to visit holiday destinations such as Anaheim. The introduction of the San Francisco route also proved popular and has continued to drive interest in the states as a destination, as opposed to merely a stopover route.”

Simon goes on to say, “the introduction of Houston is very exciting as it offers an alternative to the Western route. Particularly exciting is that it will take holiday makers directly into a transport hub ideal for connecting to the Caribbean – a location where the fly-cruise market has seen huge growth in recent years.”

“Texas also offers the opportunity for New Zealanders to fly straight into the ‘Deep South’, a destination still relatively undiscovered by many Kiwis. Houston takes travellers right into what many describe as the ‘heart’ of America, think fried green tomatoes, steak, country music and sweet tea,” Mr McKearney says.

With Houston being such a major transport hub the new route will also offer an alternative for travellers to easily connect to other major US destinations such as New York and Chicago out East.

“The move is also great for Flight Centres rapidly expanding USA leisure and corporate business which will connect Flight Centres US customers to New Zealand,” Mr McKearney says.

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