NZ Tourism Minister and Air New Zealand CEO spat! - TravelMole


NZ Tourism Minister and Air New Zealand CEO spat!

Sunday, 02 Jun, 2006 0

New Zealand Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor responded strongly this morning, defending the NZ Government’s investment in the industry following strident criticism yesterday by the chief executive of Air New Zealand, Rob Fyfe.

Mr Fyfe’s comments included that he considered that the NZ Government was not pulling its weight in attracting visitors and he made critical comparisons between the growth in visitor numbers in New Zealand and that of the United Arab Emirates.

Mr Fyfe slammed the government’s investment in tourism, saying it is barely keeping pace with the increased cost of promotion in NZ’s key markets and that New Zealand’s efforts to grow tourism are akin to running up the white flag and saying we can not, or will not, compete with other countries.

In comparing New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates he said that in 1990 they both received similar numbers of tourists, adding that by 2003 visitor numbers to the UAE had risen 600 percent, but in New Zealand the growth was just over 100 percent.

Mr Fyfe says his biggest concern is that while Air New Zealand is furiously improving its performance, the infrastructure available for visitors to New Zealand is anything but world class.

Report by The Mole



Related News Stories:  



 




Most Read

Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene

Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee

Craig Ray and the Expansion of the Blues Trail

Presenting Mississippi’s Cultural Trails with Katie Coats

Robert Terrell: A Journey Through BB King’s Influence

Rochelle Hicks: Celebrating Mississippi’s Musical Legacy

Exploring Jacksonville with Katie Mitura: The Flip Side of Florida

Tricia Handley-Hughes of Inteletravel announces the location for the TravelQuest 2025 conference

Insights from James Ferrara on Inteletravel’s Growth and Future

Tricia Handley-Hughes on Inteletravel’s Growth and Challenges

Tony from Gatto’s Pizza on Columbus’s Unique Pizza Trail

Sophia Hyder Hock on Global Social Inclusion in Tourism
TRAINING & COMPETITION

Our emails to you has bounced travelmole.com Or You can change your email from your profile Setting Section

Your region selection will be saved in your cookie for future visits. Please enable your cookie for TravelMole.com so this dialog box will not come up again.

Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari

true