Grant Webster: Tourism Holdings CEO on visitor arrivals nearly matching pre-Covid numbers

The tourism industry is feeling bullish with business heading back towards being on track post-Covid.  

Visitor arrivals reached 92% of pre-pandemic numbers for August – up on July's 87%.  

Tourism Holdings Chief Executive Grant Webster told Mike Hosking it's the time of year and the success of tourism campaigns working their magic. 

He says growing air capacity and visas being sorted are other momentum points that mean the next 12 months are looking positive. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We might have some real hope and tourism here. I
think international visitors were up seven and a half percent
in August, so we now set at eighty eight percent
pre COVID. It's it's all Australia though, I mean Australia
is over half of all arrivals of fifty two percent.
China's at nine, the US is at five. Grant Webster
is the chief executive Tourism Holdings and is with us.
Grant morning, good morning. How bullish are you?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah? Really bullish. Let's get excited about tourism. It's time good.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
So some talk that summer could see us back at
one hundred. Do you think that's true?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
And no, not the summer. But you know we're well
on track. Look at that percentages that you were just
talking about. So we're well on track. We're heading to
the right place.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Do you think we're overly reliant on Australia or it
is just what it is.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Now, it's a time of the year and it's where
some of the campaigns have been. So if you look
at the forwards from some of our more traditional markets
that are all well up as well. So now that's
just a time of year and things that are being
focused on at the moment.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Okay, good, So the campaigns I was going to ask about,
do campaigns work and if they do, should we do
more of them?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yes? And yes, And the funding is there to do
more of them, and we've just got to make sure
that we're not taking a sugar hit, sugar rush kind
of approach to things and making sure that we're getting
sustainable about that funding.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Because we did an interview a couple of weeks ago,
there was a regional initiative representing the North Island. Should
we be selling New Zealand as New Zealand or can
individual bits of New Zealand sell themselves internationally without splitting
the market too much?

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Again, it's and both. So the South Island's been campaigning
in that way for a number of years. They're great
to see the North Island respond accordingly. You do get
customers that do one island all the other, so that's fine.
But at the end of the day, touris of New
Zealand sells New Zealand and they sell it well, so
let's just keep supporting them and keep going. It's good
for the economy, we know.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
I read some Golden Week's stats the Chinese are moving again,
particularly to the UAE, but we were in there is
is there something coming with the Chinese? Are they back ish?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
I think that coming back? I think you know, the
Minister went up there a couple of weeks ago. Everything
I heard from that trip was extremely positive. Air capacity
starting to come back, Visa situations have been pretty well sorted.
So yeah, that's another one of those momentum points. So
I think you're going to see the next twelve months
really positive for news cialenters good.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
So is the government doing all they can on those visas,
pulling all those leaders they can.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, the Minister Apsman has listened really really well to
the industry and when you look at the event funding
it was announced a few weeks ago. When you look
at the visa changes, yes is the simplanswer to that.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
And the capacity on airlines where are we at with it?

Speaker 2 (02:40):
So we still want more. So we've only got small
single digit growth in their capacity this calendar year. Australia
is outstripping us in the air capacity and that's something
we have to continue to watch. It'd be great to
see the government lean into that as their next initiative
and then that would set us up again for much
much better under twenty six and we can get back

(03:01):
to that one hundred percent sooner than what some of
us are anticipating.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
And your company is doing, how New Zealand is doing
or have you got a different story?

Speaker 2 (03:11):
No, from an international tourism into New Zealand, we are
doing the same more better than the broader stats. I
mean from an employment perspective, Mike, we're looking at employing
right at the moment, we've got about one hundred and
fifty people we're looking to employee for the summer and
that's up about close to twenty percent on last year. Wow,
that gives you a pretty good indication of the difference

(03:31):
that this industry can make to the economy.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Fantastic And are people easy to get or not?

Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's much easier than what it's been historically. Now that
obviously is not necessarily a good indicator for the broader economy,
but no, we're happy with large, large number of applicants
for all sorts of roles. Good.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
And what do you make of the dollar? I mean,
if you're handing over forty three p or whatever it
is at the moment, I mean that we've got to
look at bargain.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Don't we exactly right? You're on it again. We are.
We are a bagain. Australia is a bargain. So this
region in particular when you think that the US still
hasn't got the mojo back yet. So you know, we've
got to make the most of that at the moment,
and we are well done.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
I know you're in a part of the world where
it's four thirty in the morning, so I do appreciate
you getting up early.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
For us very much. Nice to no worries.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
It's nice to talk to your Grant Webster, who is
the chief executive Tourism Holdings. Four thirty five here Wednesday.
Simon Watts Award for appearing on the program at an
inopportune moment.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
For more from the my Casking Breakfast, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
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