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NZ Tourism Minister and Air New Zealand CEO spat!
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
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