A finger on the pulse of tourism in NZ

Being based in Queenstown means you can kind-of keep a finger on the pulse of tourism in NZ.

It means you can combine the tourism economic forecasts with the size of the queue at Fergbuger or the number of planes you see coming into land at the airport to build an informed view.

So when we find ourselves nearing the end of winter, we start looking towards summer and asking what is this the rest of the year going to bring for tourism?

I'm seeing a lot of hope pinned on a few key areas:

- International: America with an election always boosts interest in NZ as a place to visit (and live) which, combined with their big spending from last summer, every airport, destination and business seems to be having a go at targeting.

- Domestic: Surely (?) reduced interest rates will come down and we'll see this turn into a good summer for domestic tourism and the real regional dispersal they bring.

- Peak VS Off peak: While Tourism NZ are focusing on off-season travel, business owners still need to deal with the short-term reality of peak season travel and making the most of it.

Ultimately, we never know exactly how it will play out.

This is where I find having a focus on inputs/activities (not just outputs/results) helps to provide certainty and (hopefully) improves the odds for good results through the rest of the year.