NZ, says the man from Off the Road, can no longer be classed as somewhere to travel on the cheap.
Tyler Brule*, the chin-stroking, asterisk-loving, globe-trotting magazine editor, had a nice time in New Zealand recently, and writes generously about his time here (for all the puzzling condescensions about the NZ Air Force) in a recent Financial Times column.
But Tyler*, it’s safe to assume, travels with a gold card, and gets well looked after. More troubling for the New Zealand tourism industry is the diagnosis at the Smithsonian-based blog Off the Road, “the travel adventures of a nomad on the cheap”.
New Zealand’s tourism minister, a former currency trader, should have a copy of Alastair Bland’s post shuffled into his lap on the flight back from Honolulu. It delivers what can only be bad news for the tourism industry: we are no longer classifiable as an affordable destination.
“Yes: New Zealand is worth visiting,” says Bland, blogging from the South Island. “But I’ll be frank: I’m not sure how long I can keep travelling here and continue claiming to be ‘on the cheap’.”
The combination of an unfriendly exchange rate and escalating prices means New Zealand now ranks alongside places like Japan, Switzerland and Iceland, says Bland, as an “expensive travel destination”.
He writes:
Today, for instance, our eyes bugged out at a roadside fruit stand where we found fresh apricots going for the equivalent of $14 [NZ $20] per pound. And yesterday, I spent $15 on nine apples and a scraping of dried figs from the bulk section in a supermarket in Te Anau.
Lovely though it might be, New Zealand is off the list. If you want to travel cheaply, “go see Cambodia, Peru, Nicaragua, India, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania or Bolivia.”
I’m thinking that Paula has got her ruff up, not about the facts, but that this seems to show NZ in a bad light.
(Report Abuse) (Report Abuse)NZ is very expensive! From eating [out or in], electricity, cell phone airtime, vehicle usage [registration, fuel, maintainance...], housing, and the list goes on. Food, you pay export prices for non-export quality.
Lots of people claim it’s because of the “small market”, but that’s nonsense. I buy lots of stuff mailorder or internet, and even with the freight added, it still comes in far cheaper than what’s available locally.
I’m sure that there are some Kiwis that’ll say “she’ll be right, it’s not too bad”. But any one that has seen what it’s like here vs almost any other first world country would agree that, in NZ, you’re paying premiun prices [like Swiss, Scan.etal] for not premium quality.
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I can’t see the problem Paula. The man writes for a budget travel blog and NZ no longer falls into the category of a budget destination. It’s a fact, not an opinion.
(Report Abuse) (Report Abuse)I’m a New Zealander living in London doing my yearly visit back home soon, so I know its even cheaper to hang out in London than any city in NZ. For example, a pint of beer is £3 in London, and about £5 in NZ. Bottled water from a corner store is about 50-70 pence in London and about £1.50 in NZ, and grocery food is abut 30-50% more expensive and so on. And like the majority of travelers I won’t be diving for free abalone. The sad thing is NZ residents earn so much less than their European counterparts and yet have to pay more. Don’t be in denial Paula. NZ is a great place but it has become so much more expensive than it ever used to be.
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Oh and Mr Bland don’t forget to tell the people that when they go visit the countries you recommend, to tell them to get their ‘shots’
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Paula:
(Report Abuse) (Report Abuse)Alastair Bland is complimentary – gushlingly, even – about NZ; he simply says that it can no longer be classed as a place a visitor can travel “on the cheap”. And he’s right.
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I am amazed Alister is one who sees the glass half empty.
(Report Abuse) (Report Abuse)He complains that our apricots re expensive, and yet he dives for our FREE abalone, you would think he could then doff up a little coin for some apricots iIF he just has to eat apricots.
Then Alister recommends other countries to visit that are cheaper than NZ.
Well you pay peanuts you get monkeys….and do THOSE countries oalso offer FREE hospitals andemergency services
for any situation to ALL their visitors Mr Bland.
I find your comments rather tastless, rather bland in fact.
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