Media Release
30 March 2005
High Dollar Holiday Hedging
A swing back to longer US stopovers and a surge in North American holidays are the two main effects on traveller
behaviour due to the high New Zealand dollar, according to New Zealand’s largest travel retailer.
But in a nationwide survey on the effects of the high dollar on travel, Flight Centre consultants also identified an
attitude to currency fluctuations among New Zealand travellers that was more sophisticated than ever before.
With many commentators picking that the NZ dollar has now peaked at around the US 74c mark, several Flight Centre
consultants noticed holiday hedging - travellers buying up US dollars for future trips.
Shore City Flight Centre consultant Thaddeus D'Souza said his clients were “buying US cash by the bucket load,” while
other agents noticed people booking flights and accommodation further in advance because of the possible drop off in the
dollar.
Flight Centre Albany consultant Scott Liddell said destinations with currencies pegged to the US dollar, such as
Malaysia, had also gained in popularity.
In the Pacific, Nelson Flight Centre manager Matt Roberts said Hawaii was also popular right now, as people looked for
alternatives to the traditional Fiji holiday.
Browns Bay Flight Centre Consultant Paul Dymond was typical of responses when he said many New Zealanders were simply
stopping over for longer periods on their way to Europe, with many upgrading to better hotels because of the exchange
rate.
According to Statistics New Zealand, for the period July 2004 – January 2005 the number of New Zealanders travelling to
the US for a holiday or visiting friends and family increased by 18.8 percent against the same period the year before.
Flight Centre general manager David Burns said the high dollar also coincided with travellers becoming used to the
increased security measures now in place in the US, and a push by tourism operators such as Disney to encourage more
tourism business from this part of the world.
“Flights to North America are also cheaper than ever before, although this is being offset somewhat by the fuel
surcharges,” he said.
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