Mark Quickfall: Totally Tourism CEO on tourism numbers returning to pre-covid levels

The Department of Conservation has confirmed tourism numbers are returning to pre-covid levels.  

New data shows visitors are back at 80% of what was seen before the pandemic, with arrivals increasing from 1.52 million in 2022 to 2.29 million in 2023.  

Totally Tourism CEO Mark Quickfall told Mike Hosking that despite places like Europe seeing much higher figures, it has to be looked at in perspective.  

He says for companies like his —which lost 90% of businesses overnight due to Covid— it's a positive. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You dart around our slow to recover tourism industry, international
visitors back to at eighty percent now of what we
saw for COVID, there were two point nine six million
last year. CEO of Totally Tourism, Mark quick Falls with
us Mike Morning.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
I just don't see this as a thing to celebrate.
I mean, I'm looking at countries in Europe that are
one hundred plus and they hate tourists and their protesting
in the streets, and we're going it's eighty it's eighty one,
it's eighty two. What's wrong with us?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Well, I guess you've got a put of perspective. You
go back twenty twenty one, we had eighty two thousand people,
are right, So businesses like ours when COVID arriving the
lost ninety percent of our business over night. To get
back to eighty percent is a positive, certainly, not a negative.
But you're right. We've got to keep in perspective and
we've got to keep working hard at rebuilding the industry.

(00:49):
And I think it doesn't reflect time a year and
the type of visitor that's coming is important to focus on.
You know, in the last twenty four hours down here
in Queenstown and if that's snow, that'll certainly turn the
tap on for winter. No snow. Australians are pretty savvy.
They won't fly over here to go skiing. As soon
as it arrives, you know, connectivity, they can book their

(01:11):
flight and right if.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
You're an outlier though in Queenstown, aren't your Queenstown seems
to be back to some form of normality. The country
doesn't seem to be the case. Are you happy with
the way we're selling ourselves, the marketing, the branding to
the world, that all seasonal tourist type approach they're taking
is all of that good stuff?

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yes it is. But look, I can probably comment on
other areas we operate, the West coast malt Kop and
they certainly hit very hard over COVID, So I mean,
like the West coast Crans and Fox it was like
the ghost towns. They have seen certainly seen the benefit
of the return of international travel. But getting back to
promoting the country, I think we do have to be

(01:49):
careful not to focus too much on all the negatives
of over crowding region of tourism. You know, we have
to we actually have to acknowledge those points, but we
don't want to lose sight of the fact that comes
to New Zealand have a great time, have a lot
of fun, enjoyed our joy our food and wine, enjoyed
outdoor activities and you know, and there's been a lot

(02:12):
of investment in that type of promotion over many, many years.
Right now, we've got two staff members in China doing
a sales trip, working with Tourist New Zealand and some
of our partners to encourage people to come here and
tell them why they should come good. Well, you certainly, yeah,
you certainly focus on a negative, but we've got to
get out there and say to people New Zealand is

(02:33):
still a fantastic holiday destination, very very affordable, and New
Zealanders love hosting people.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Good. Well, let's hope the message gets out there. Certainly
the dollars helping us at the moment, Marke appreciate it.
Mark quick Full, CEO of Totally Tourism. For more from
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