Two Million International Trips Predicted For 2007

Two Million International Trips Predicted For 2007

New Zealand's largest travel retailer is predicting New Zealanders will take more than two million international trips in 2007 for the first time, if current trends continue.

Flight Centre general manager Rick Hamilton said with forward bookings for 2007 looking promising after a strong Europe earlybird selling season and people snapping up post-coup bargains in Fiji, there was a strong chance the two million mark would be passed.

In the most recent data based on departure cards, 1,864,321 trips were taken by New Zealanders in the year ending 30 September, an all time high.

“When you consider we have a population of a little more than four million and we are rather isolated geographically, this really does cement our reputation as some of the world’s most prolific travellers,” Mr Hamilton said.

New Zealand surpassed one million trips just ten years ago, and has consistently grown since then.

Mr Hamilton said economic indicators also pointed to strong consumer confidence in 2007, something that always reflected well in travel statistics.

“There’s no denying the fact that as a country we just love to travel.”

Compared with population, almost one in two New Zealanders travel internationally, while only one in four Australians travel overseas. In the US the number is less than one in ten.

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