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Speaker 1: Now there are reports that tourists are canceling their trips

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Speaker 1: to New Zealand. A snapshot survey by the Tourism Expert

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Speaker 1: Council show that seventy seven percent of tourism operators who

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Speaker 1: responded say they've had cancelations, and this is for March

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Speaker 1: and April. Linda Keen is the CEO of the Tourism

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Speaker 1: Export Council and with us now, Hi, Linda, Oh, good afternoon, Heather.

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Speaker 1: Now it sound does it sound to you like it's

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Speaker 1: not so much fears about what way happen, but actual

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Speaker 1: flight cancelations and root disruptions that are main culprit's here.

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Speaker 2: I think, firstly, to put into context of the respondents

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Speaker 2: to the survey, the seventy seven percent is only for

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Speaker 2: those travelers from the UK and European markets. All our

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Speaker 2: other markets are fine, and it is for this March

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Speaker 2: April period. And thankfully we're at sure that we're at

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Speaker 2: the tail end of our season, so we expected a

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Speaker 2: few cancelations as soon as this event kicked into gear,

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Speaker 2: but at this point in time we are not concerned

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Speaker 2: too much about the upcoming season from the first of October.

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Speaker 1: Do you think though, that these people will rebook, because

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Speaker 1: I mean, it is one thing once you've had the

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Speaker 1: flight cancelations happen and the disruptions happen, and then you're

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Speaker 1: in what is essentially going to be a cost of

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Speaker 1: living crisis, which you know is happening. Wouldn't you be

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Speaker 1: better off saving your dollars and not going to New Zealand.

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Speaker 2: I think for those long haul travelers, because it's such

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Speaker 2: a commitment with time and with sundaing, with their investment,

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Speaker 2: for the airlines that are working closely with their passengers

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Speaker 2: and providing favorable new routes to fly to New Zealand,

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Speaker 2: I think they'll be fine. Certainly all airlines and tourism operators,

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Speaker 2: if there is a cancelation coming through, they'll be encouraging

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Speaker 2: a credit more than a cancelation. But with such a

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Speaker 2: long haul destination, if people still have the time, they've

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Speaker 2: prepaid for their airfare and the bulk of their trip

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Speaker 2: to New Zealand already, we think they will still travel.

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Speaker 2: But of course there's a lot of uncertainty as to

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Speaker 2: how long this situation carries on.

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Speaker 1: How long is it before I mean, because this has

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Speaker 1: been this is not a novel idea by me. I

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Speaker 1: mean a lot of people have said this, but we

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Speaker 1: actually stand to benefit because we are such a safe

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Speaker 1: destination as long as people can get here, how long

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Speaker 1: before we start to benefit from people who are looking

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Speaker 1: for nice, safe holidays.

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Speaker 2: Well, the quick snapshot that we've got and some anecdotal

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Speaker 2: feedback just in the last couple of days does suggest,

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Speaker 2: as with some crises, there are always some beneficiaries, particularly

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Speaker 2: in travel and tourism, when people change their travel plans.

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Speaker 2: So we are definitely seeing new inquiries starting to come

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Speaker 2: through from the next one to two months because that

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Speaker 2: would be the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere. So

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Speaker 2: if those that can travel still want to travel, we're

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Speaker 2: just beginning to see some bookings float through and that

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Speaker 2: those are coming from the US from India. Singapore Airlines

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Speaker 2: has just announced that they've put an increased capacity to

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Speaker 2: London and Australia and cancel their du By flight. So

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Speaker 2: the third of April. That is a favorable opportunity for us,

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Speaker 2: even though we want to be gentle about you know, opportunities.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah too, right, But doesn't it mean those people

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Speaker 1: will just stop in Australia or do they come across

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Speaker 1: the ditch as well.

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Speaker 2: There's quite a number of people that when they come

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Speaker 2: to New Zealand they do dual destination. They do Australia

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Speaker 2: and New Zealand. So there is potential for us as

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Speaker 2: a thief safer, safer nation that we could get mono

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Speaker 2: so we could get direct into a New Zealand or

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Speaker 2: we might pick up some dull with Australia and New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, very interesting. Hey, Linda, thank you was always appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Linda Keen, Chief Executive of the Tourism Export Councilor for

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