A tourism experts says slowing visitor numbers to the country shouldn't be taken out of context.
Air New Zealand has slashed its earnings forecast after slower domestic travel over summer
Destination Queenstown CEO Graham Budd told Mike Hosking the likes of China, the USA, Japan and the UK are all at different points when it comes to visitor numbers. They have been observing a drop in projected tourist numbers as well.
"Its a kind of overarching observation, some markets are growing while others are flat but overall we are definitely seeing a flatness and softness to the market."
"A couple of years ago we were sailing along nicely, but unfortunately that is definitely not the case now."
Budd told Mike Hosking New Zealand also needed to up its profile as an outdoor adventure destination in the face of emerging countries around the world who have redesigned their tourism market.
"I'm concerned that New Zealand may have lost its world-leading position in that space. You have to really push different ideas to keep ahead of the competition"Â
Air New Zealand, which is recognised as a useful guide to summarising our tourism industry, cut its pre-tax earnings guidance to a range of $340 million to $400 million for the June year, due to slower-than-expected revenue growth.
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