AUCKLAND – The New Zealand tourism industry expects visitor arrivals to be down around 10 percent this year.

    Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) chief executive George Hickton said Australia presents New Zealand’s best opportunity for growth as other key source markets suffer the fall-out of the crisis.

    "Australia will be a crucial market for us in 2009. With job losses and the weakening dollar, Australians are likely to favour short-haul holidays,” he said.

    "We also have good capacity on the Tasman route and are likely to see trans-Tasman airfares trending down as airlines try to fill seats."

    TNZ has brought forward spending in the Australian market to help boost visitor arrivals over the summer and autumn seasons. It is also focused on maintaining a high profile in other key source markets including the US, UK and China.

    Tourism Industry Association chief executive, Tim Cossar, said the impacts of a downturn in visitor numbers will be felt differently across sectors and regions.

    "Operators and regions with more exposure to long-haul holiday markets like the UK, US and Asia will be most affected. Australia and the domestic tourism market will be critical in buffering the industry from lower international demand," he said.