While many venue operators and event organisers have been scrambling to ensure they are more environmentally aware, the price of oil has been slowly and steadily on the rise here and around the world.
This is already hitting the hip pocket of many, and according to those in the know, is only likely to get worse for 2008 and unfortunately, beyond.
For an industry that demands people travel, spiralling fuel costs could have a devastating effect on the business events sector (as it will on tourism generally). Already airlines are in crisis talks - cutting routes, staff, upping ticket prices, and downgrading profit forecasts. Australia’s Qantas airline has been quick to cut scheduled flights to Alice Springs and the Gold Coast, while its no-frills offshoot, Jetstar, has cut schedules to the Whitsundays, Adelaide and Cairns. At the time of going to press Virgin Blue was also reviewing all of its scheduled flights and anticipated making cuts. Air New Zealand will no doubt follow suit and slash and burn non-profitable sectors.
Also expected is the reduction in orders of the new breed of super aircraft like the A380s that a year or so ago were being seen as the saviour of the tourism industry – bringing more people to a destination faster and cheaper than ever before.
Thankfully for New Zealand, its largest international source market is nearby Australia. With less opportunity to travel domestically (because of reduced flights), and with higher ticket prices to travel, particularly with long-haul travel, New Zealand may be able to capitalise on the fuel price blow-out.
The business events sector has always been focused on ease of access. Time-poor conference delegates do not like spending half a day or more travelling to a meeting. Destinations such as Auckland and Christchurch that offer direct flights from major Australian hubs may be the big winners here.
The other big winners may be city-based venues which could find themselves playing host to more local businesses than ever before – companies who decide to forego getting out of town for their annual conference to save money on travel. They might even upgrade their wine list or menu with the money they save (although don’t hold your breath here).
Whatever the future holds, those who currently clasp the purse strings of the country’s tourism and business tourism dollars appear as if they have another great excuse why their international marketing and advertising strategies may not be working as well as they should be. It’s the global oil prices, they’ll say. It’s just so expensive to get here. But we’ve got another strategy. It’ll cost a bit more but we really, really think that it’ll work this time. What do you say?
I welcome your feedback,
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