1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,240
Speaker 1: Right now. The Aussies are helping push us towards our

2
00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:05,640
Speaker 1: first pre COVID tourism summer stats in ZED numbers two

3
00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:08,160
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty thousand tourists for August. That's an increase

4
00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,319
Speaker 1: of sixteen thousand on last year. August was ninety two

5
00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:16,320
Speaker 1: percent of pre COVID. Kathabrian is Barnes, chief executive director

6
00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:17,959
Speaker 1: with US This morning CAF, Good morning.

7
00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:19,200
Speaker 2: Good morning Ryan.

8
00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:23,120
Speaker 1: So how confident are you we will hit pre COVID

9
00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:23,759
Speaker 1: this summer?

10
00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,200
Speaker 2: Well, look, I think we might get close. And it's

11
00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:28,920
Speaker 2: been a long time since I've been talking about some

12
00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,519
Speaker 2: good news, so I'm really pleased to see this, these

13
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,720
Speaker 2: August numbers, and I think it's really promising for summer.

14
00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:38,920
Speaker 1: Okay, that's good. Are we a little obsessed with the

15
00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,000
Speaker 1: pre COVID thing. Shouldn't we be ahead of it already?

16
00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:42,239
Speaker 1: You know?

17
00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean for sure we were later to open.

18
00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:47,479
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, it really as a product

19
00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:50,320
Speaker 2: of this country being a really long way away from

20
00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:52,440
Speaker 2: the rest of the world, and so our connections have

21
00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,080
Speaker 2: taken longer to restore. But I think, you know, looking

22
00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,960
Speaker 2: ahead to this summer. Over the summer season, airlines are

23
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,960
Speaker 2: expecting to see eight point two percent increased capacity against

24
00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,720
Speaker 2: last summer, so you know, really quite a lot more

25
00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:08,960
Speaker 2: seats in the sky, and so the opportunity is there

26
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:10,640
Speaker 2: to hit our pre COVID numbers.

27
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:12,399
Speaker 1: Where is the capacity coming from?

28
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a range. I mean, you know, we've heard

29
00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,800
Speaker 2: a lot about the Tasman capacity added by Corners Group,

30
00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,720
Speaker 2: and that's fantastic with the Jetstile services and the new

31
00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:26,040
Speaker 2: services toned into Hamilton. But I would also say there's

32
00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,600
Speaker 2: a range of other sort of additional growth that's come

33
00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,080
Speaker 2: into New Zealand, and that comes from a range of destinations.

34
00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,399
Speaker 2: So the America's you know, Singapore, Hong Kong, you know,

35
00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:42,119
Speaker 2: all those markets have grown in terms of airline capacity.

36
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:43,479
Speaker 1: Which is good, which is what we need because if

37
00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,720
Speaker 1: we rely just on the Aussies or the Aussies to

38
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:47,680
Speaker 1: do the heavy lifting, they don't stay as long and

39
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,040
Speaker 1: spend as much here, right, Yeah.

40
00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,640
Speaker 2: I mean the Tasman travel always has been a substantial

41
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,920
Speaker 2: part of the New Zealand market, so it's really important.

42
00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,320
Speaker 2: And I think you know, we would welcome any visitor,

43
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,800
Speaker 2: would we not. So I think it's great to see

44
00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,560
Speaker 2: those of these coming. But it's also great to see

45
00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,160
Speaker 2: the internationals coming over summer and I really hope this

46
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,120
Speaker 2: is meaningful for tourism businesses across New Zealand who have

47
00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,200
Speaker 2: been waiting a long time to see this recovery.

48
00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:13,920
Speaker 1: Very long time indeed, and as you say, nice to

49
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,200
Speaker 1: have some even a glimmer of some good news on

50
00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,600
Speaker 1: the tourism front. Kah, thank you, it really is. Thank you,

51
00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,440
Speaker 1: Ryan Keath, Ryan Barnes, Executive Director. For more from Early

52
00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,639
Speaker 1: Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to news talks it'd

53
00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,640
Speaker 1: be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.