Changes to the NZ passport welcomed

MEDIA RELEASE
28 May 2015

Changes to the NZ passport welcomed as Kiwis love of travel stronger than ever

With New Zealanders travelling more frequently reverting back to 10-year passports can only mean good things for Kiwis

New research shows 83 percent of New Zealanders travelling by aeroplane in the past two years have flown internationally
The majority of international travellers (60%) have flown long-haul* more than once in the last 2 years

New research amongst New Zealanders has shown that Kiwis love of travel and desire to visit far-flung destinations is still as strong as ever.

The research conducted by Flight Centre (NZ) has shown that 83 percent of New Zealanders travelling by aeroplane in the past two years have flown internationally, with a whopping two-thirds of those travelling to long haul destinations such as Europe, Africa, The Middle East, Asia and North and South America.

The frequency with which New Zealanders are travelling continues to show growth as well. Of those surveyed the majority of international travellers (60%) had flown long-haul more than once in the last 2 years. Of those, just over one in ten travelled long-haul four to five times and 6 percent travelled long-haul more than six times in the past two years.

Recent figures from Statistics New Zealand also showed growth in the number of Kiwis travelling internationally with figures from April 2015 showing the number of overseas trips by New Zealand residents (202,300) were up 3,100 on April 2014.

Sue Matson, Flight Centre NZ General Manager Retail says, “the last couple of years have been a really exciting time in the travel industry with Kiwis making the most of the strong dollar and access to some really good deals to long-haul destinations.”

Ms Matson goes on to say that with the frequency in which Kiwis are travelling the changes to the New Zealand passport are going to be good for the industry and really help to improve the travel experience.

“With New Zealanders travelling so frequently reverting back to 10-year passports can only mean good things for Kiwis. Anything that is improving on the travel experience for our customers is something we welcome with open arms,” Ms Matson said.

It’s not all about long-haul though, as well as Kiwis love of travelling to far-flung destinations, popping across the ditch to Australia and the South Pacific continues to prove popular as well. More than half (59%) of respondents said they had travelled by aeroplane to short-haul* destinations in the past two years, with 41 percent having travelled short haul two to three times and 12 percent travelling short-haul four to five times.

Ms Matson says, “what’s really evident is that as New Zealanders have access to more airline carriers, routes, better deals and strong exchange rates the frequency in which they are travelling to all of these destinations continues to grow.”

“We have many customers who will travel short-haul, long-haul and domestically all in the space of one year and making this experience for them as seamless and easy as possible is always a top priority. That’s where changes like the extension to our passports are going to really help,” Ms Matson said.

The research showed that 24% of respondents said they had travelled to long-haul destinations such as Europe and Africa as well as short-haul destinations such as Australia, all within the space of two years.

The research also looked into who was travelling where. Respondents aged in the 55+ age bracket tended to travel more frequently to short-haul destinations (43%). Whereas in the 35 – 54 year old age bracket the majority travelled long-haul 41%. The same is true for 18 – 34 year old, with 28% travelling long-haul.

Ms Matson says, “being in what many describe as the ‘golden era of travel’ it’s a really exciting time for New Zealanders of all ages to be travelling and experiencing a whole lot of new destinations.”

The research showed that whilst the most common reason for people travelling long-haul and short-haul was for a holiday (52% for both), a third of the trips were to visit family and friends (33% for both), and around 1 in 10 were for business purposes (11% short-haul, 9% long-haul).

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