Flight Center Boss – What position do politicians take on the future of travel?

opinion:

A year ago, I wrote a petition to governments to trust the private sector in their reopening plans.

A year later, borders were opened and tourism resumed.
What’s your next chance?

Scaling down was definitely a difficult task, but scaling up after the pandemic was definitely difficult.

Frankly, travel is more complicated than it used to be. Face the pain of finding a seat on a plane, flight fares, airport delays, tourism and hospitality that you’ve never experienced firsthand or heard from friends or work colleagues at a barbecue. . Are businesses struggling to find the staff they need to deliver the services they’re passionate about?

Not surprisingly, in the face of this complexity, the use of travel agents is increasing as more and more customers value their expertise.

We are proud to have helped nearly half a million customers travel since borders opened in April. This equates to his 75% of pre-Covid bookings and less than half of our employees working on our business.

This is an extraordinary feat and a common scenario for travel, tourism and hospitality businesses across Aotearoa.

If resilience, passion, dedication, and caring for each other and our customers were the only requirements for success.

As we head into an election year, many of these industries are pondering what the future of New Zealand travel and tourism will look like under incumbents or a change of government.

Tourism has lost its mantle as New Zealand’s largest export revenue source, but the travel and tourism industry, which has survived and tasted the early green shoots of its recovery, will serve New Zealand again, especially as dark clouds roll in on the economic horizon. i am ready.

What seems to be misunderstood in many places is the symbiotic relationship between the inbound and outbound travel and tourism sectors.

They are two sides of the same coin and cannot thrive without each other.

New Zealand families and businesses are desperate to reconnect with the world and this fact gives airlines confidence to increase capacity to New Zealand.

No airline can sustainably operate unbalanced routes full of inbound tourists, but more can be achieved by balancing inbound and outbound flows, resulting in increased capacity. As well as providing additional opportunities for tourists from New Zealand, we can offer cheaper airfares to New Zealand travelers and businesses. Not to mention more freight options for New Zealand exporters.

Business travel is a necessity and drives business whose profits return to New Zealand. This is good for the local economy.

In both our corporate travel businesses, Corporate Traveler and FCM, our customers are eager to get back in front of their international suppliers, partners and stakeholders to grow their business.

Passenger numbers across the corporate travel business grew rapidly, reaching 150% of 2021 levels. A high percentage of bookings now come from small and medium-sized New Zealand businesses, comparable to pre-corona figures.

Our country needs strong New Zealand businesses selling goods to the world.Outbound travel is needed to boost the recovery and success of NZ Inc.

Across the leisure travel business, the iconic red doors opened in April and are still lined up.

Flight Center and the broader agency sector are grateful to be able to resume trading after a very difficult time. We parted for a long time.

Do you have more important trips? With border restrictions, vaccination requirements, ghost flights, lost luggage, and limited airline support, it was essential to have a third party to manage this.

This first wave was followed by kiwis booking much-needed vacations, and a resurgence of travel to the Pacific Islands, the UK, Australia and the US.

Outbound travel is essential to connecting New Zealand with the world, connecting kiwis and their families, and providing a much-needed break for our collective well-being.

Yes, economic management, cost of living, water, crime and health will all be important battlefields once the campaign begins, but forget the importance of the travel and tourism sector and all the Kiwi businesses and families they depend on. Please don’t do that.

We urge both parties to return their travel and tourism portfolios to their former prestigious positions, engage with the private sector, seek to understand the codependent nature of outbound and inbound travel, and assess the benefits they can bring to New Zealand. I ask you to

Contact us for the solutions you need, including proper immigration settings and the pros and cons of a “high-value tourist” strategy. I won’t go into detail on these issues, they are well documented, but we know the industry very well, we know what needs to be done to fix the ecosystem, and New Zealand It is no exaggeration to say that we share our goals for success. As we have seen recently, China will inevitably reopen, air capacity will recover, and then supply will outstrip demand globally.

The preparation period is short – months instead of years. Undoubtedly, New Zealand wants to seize the opportunity and make the conditions available to travel, tourism and hospitality, putting New Zealand at the forefront of trade and tourism.

But the question is, which party understands the opportunity, has the vision and has the ability to execute on it? Is it the party that infamously denounced, or was it run by a former travel agency boss?

The message for both parties is clear. Talk to us, travel experts. Together, we can deliver strong policies that benefit all Kiwis.