World Travel News

The tourism industry is keeping a wary eye on the spread of Asian bird flu and is already planning its response to a pandemic that could see New Zealand seal off its borders.

The high-risk H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed 60 of the 116 people infected in Asia since late 2003 and the European Commission has advised Europe to prepare for a pandemic.

The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more than 20 million people worldwide and experts say that although two other outbreaks, in 1957 and 1968, had vastly lower death rates, they caused global disruptions.

This week, Southern Travel Holdings said “gathering commentary about Asian bird flu” was one of a number of major issues facing the tourism industry in Australia and New Zealand.

Managing director Kiyomi Gunji said concerns about the flu were behind a recent fall-off in customers from New Zealand’s fourth-largest market, Japan.

“Even if they are not actually worried about the destination itself, if they have to come through crowded airports in other countries, they may think twice and may postpone until things settle down.”

Tourism Industry Association chief executive Fiona Luhrs said it had been in contact with members about the flu threat as some operators had inquired about how they should prepare.

“We’ve alerted them to the fact it will be an issue for the industry if it happened and that there’s a lot of planning going on within the Government and agencies such as ourselves.”

Luhrs said the association had been working with the Ministry of Health to develop a strategy to cope with a bird flu outbreak. Much of that included the sort of generic advice being prepared for other industries.

The association was following up with a plan for practical steps that could be taken. That included detailed advice about issues such as the impact of border closure.

The picturesque Istrian peninsula in Croatia’s northern Adriatic is keen to join their ranks.

Judging by the Stancija Negricani, a sprawling farm estate surrounded by pastures and woodland in the hamlet of Divsici in the south of the peninsula, the idea may take off.

In the past few years, the number of rural households offering accommodation and home-made food has risen from a handful to more than 200, spread across the triangle-shaped peninsula whose lush vegetation belies the closeness of the sea.

“Istria and Croatia have long attracted tourists because of the pristine coastline and crystal-clear sea. A decade ago we started thinking ‘Why not also take advantage of our unspoiled hinterland?’ and a few years ago kicked off the project,” said Marino Brecevic of the Istrian Tourist Board.

Now the tourist board wants the “agrifarms” to take care of business for themselves.

“We can carry on promoting agritourism, but the owners will have to organise themselves and. . . facilitate their business by linking up with tour operators in Europe who sell such offers,” Brecevic said.

Istria was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire until 1918 and was then ruled by the Italians until World War 2, and many inhabitants speak both Croatian and Italian. It was spared the devastation of the 1991-95 war following Croatian independence.

Since 2000, tourists have been steadily returning to the Adriatic which, thanks to 50 years of communism and a decade of war and isolation, has remained pristine and alluring.

ELICACIES ABOUND

Stancija Negricani, north of the largest Istrian city of Pula, is one of a few dozen more exclusively furnished farms in the area. It covers 34,000 square meters (8 acres) and is equipped with a playground, pool and beach volleyball pitch.

The owners, Mirjana and Marijan Modrusan, quit running a restaurant four years ago and invested in buying an estate and making it suitable for about 20 guests.

“We ran up a considerable debt to start this business. We wouldn’t have achieved this had we not enjoyed refurbishing an old farm. . . (and) if our only motive had been quick profit,” Mirjana Modrusan said.

The guests, mostly from Britain, Germany and Italy, can enjoy delicacies such as ham, cheese or pasta with truffles and home-made bread and sausages made to a family recipe.

They can learn how to prepare traditional Istrian dishes and spend time in the wine cellar – another indispensable part of an Istrian country household.

The Modrusans have a contract with a British travel agency and also advertise on a website. However, they agree that agritourism needs a more organised effort.

Tourism Holdings’ chief executive Dennis Pickup today announced his intention to retire next March.

Mr Pickup has led the company, which owns campervan fleets and tourist attractions in New Zealand and Australia, since November 1998.

During his tenure Tourism Holdings underwent a major restructure.

Now that was complete Mr Pickup said he thought it was appropriate for a change in leadership and it was time to move on.

The tourism industry is heading for a staffing crisis that could push down quality and make New Zealand a cut-price destination, the Tourism Ministry chief has warned.

Ray Salter, ministry general manager, said the industry’s staffing problem was a combination of record high employment and high capacity utilisation, in which most people who are able to work already have jobs.

Unattractive hours, seasonal work, low wages and a lack of career development made the industry less popular.

“And it’s not going to get any better because the baby boomers are entering retirement and the X and Y generations appear slower to breed and family sizes are dropping off.”

In an industry heavily reliant on younger workers, not enough youngsters were coming through to fill the gaps in what is now the country’s biggest overseas money earner, worth $7.4 billion a year.

With tourism expected to grow faster than the national economy, at about 5 per cent during the next six or seven years, that meant the industry would take a bigger slice of the labour force pie in future.

It is predicted that the industry needs 4000 new staff each year to keep up with growth.

The high New Zealand dollar is pulling down forecasts of tourist spending in 2011 by billions of dollars.

Tourist numbers are expected to top three million a year by 2011, almost one million more than last year.

But an influx of Australians on cheap flights and a drop in international students means they could be spending less, a new forecast says.

Figures issued by the Tourism Research Council yesterday predict that domestic and international tourists will be pouring $19 billion into the economy by 2011, but that is $4 billion short of last year’s 2010 forecast.

Tourism Ministry research manager Bruce Bassett said the drop-off in projected spending was because of a lower starting point in 2004.

That was down to the high New Zealand dollar, which was making New Zealand more expensive for overseas tourists, and a downturn in international students. The Kiwi dollar was trading around US70 cents yesterday.

A growing number of Australian tourists lured here by cheap airfares had also affected the figures because, though they “spent well", they tended to stay for shorter periods.