Silver travellers and their dollars are propping up the tourism industry

Friday, 12 March 2021

Gordon Rayner and Mary Tritt are among the thousands of older New Zealanders holidaying domestically in lieu of travelling overseas since Covid-19 hit.

Semi-retired Alexandra lawyer Gordon Rayner is a prime example of the Kiwi “silver” travellers who are propping up the tourism industry.

His overseas itinerary for 2020 was supposed to include a sailing trip to Fiji, watching wildlife in the Australian outback, rafting in Russia and a road trip through the United States.

Instead, the 63-year-old and wife Mary Tritt visited Northland and the Marlborough Sounds, sailed the Hauraki gulf, made eight mountain biking and cycle trail trips, fished on charter boats in the Bay of Islands, and spent $24,000 on a bucket-list cruise to the subantarctic islands.

In 2019, before Covid decimated global tourism, close to 600,000 overseas holidaymakers came to New Zealand from February to the end of April, and in their absence, senior Kiwi travellers are more visible than ever.

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Christchurch Adventure Park has encouraged older residents to try flying through the trees 150 metres above the ground on its zipline.

ChristchurchNZ destinations manager Loren Heaphy refers to them as “silver surfers”, recognising that they are often very active retirees.

At this time of year when most people have returned to work and children are back at school, they are an important group for tourism operators to target, and by way of example she says the Christchurch Adventure Park offered mid-week zip-lining deals through a local retirement village.

Stewart Island has been a popular destination for New Zealand seniors forced to holiday at home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Anecdotally we are absolutely hearing that this market is essentially keeping our attractions and hotels afloat.”

Rayner is mindful of supporting local businesses and is already planning more domestic travel.

“We used the hotels, restaurants and shuttles that were part of the packages on the cycleways, and it was a fantastic way to meet local Kiwis and go to funky little places …. I’m in no big rush to go overseas, I really enjoy New Zealand.”

Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) estimates that over the next year about 951,000 Kiwis over the age of 55 will make at least one overnight domestic trip.

About half will stay with friends and family, followed by hotels, motels and serviced apartments, and TNZ general manager domestic Bjoern Spreitzer, says it is tailoring promotions for super annuitants through the likes of Super Gold Card.

Wine, food and scenery are big with this demographic. “To be honest that surprised us at the beginning, for internationals it’s huge, but domestically it’s the second most important driver for deciding where to go.”

Cycle trails such as the Alps 2 Ocean attract a lot of “active boomers” and demand for e-bike hire has soared.

Cycle trails are also doing very nicely out of the 50 to 70-plus age group which make up 66 per cent of their customers.

Outfitter Cycle Journeys provides bike hire and shuttle services on three South Island trails, and it has enjoyed a 35 per cent rise in business over the current season.

Unlike many tourism operators in the current climate, owner Geoff Gabites has been hiring rather than laying off staff, and is considering extending operations through into May as well as expanding to Nelson’s Great Taste Trail.

He says e-bikes are popular and the 110 he hires out of Twizel for the Alps 2 Ocean trail are booked until Anzac weekend.

“Previously males would have mocked them and said it’s cheating, but they’ve got smarter and realise they can do more if they want to, and enjoy themselves more.”

Moa Tours specialises in trips to out of the way places such as the Okarito Lagoon on the West Coast.

Older people prevented from taking off overseas are also splashing out on mobile homes to tour the country.

Membership of the Motor Caravan Association is heavily skewed to those aged 65 and over, and it has gained 6000 new members over the past five months, twice its normal growth rate.

Bus tours, once largely the preserve of overseas “silvers” are attracting more local customers.

Akaunui, a 400 hectare property near Ashburton with an extensive garden, gives bus tour parties an exclusive look behind the farm gate. Owners Ian and Diana Mackenzie (centre) are getting used to hosting Kiwis instead of the largely overseas groups who came pre-Covid-19.

Moa Tours, which has always had a strong domestic focus, has increased its bus trips post-Covid, and company founder Ena Hutchinson says it is getting slightly younger people in their fifties who had to cancel cruises.

Offering unique or hard to get to destinations and all-inclusive pricing is the key to getting people on board, and Moa has done 10 tours to Stewart Island in the past year, double previous numbers.

Hutchinson is surprised at how many older people have never or hardly ever visited the South Island.

Visiting wineries and eating out are high on the list of must-do activities for those aged 55-plus taking domestic holidays.

“They have family overseas, and they leave seeing New Zealand until they can’t get offshore.

“It's great Kiwis are enjoying seeing their own country and are really quite blown away by it, that’s the positive that has come out of [Covid], they’re loving going to Great Barrier or Golden Bay.”

Diana and Ian Mackenzie own Akaunui farm near the coast south of Ashburton, and they host Moa Tours passengers for lunch at their historic homestead and 10 hectare garden.

Pre-Covid, three quarters of their bus tour parties were from overseas, and Diana Mackenzie says it has been an adjustment dealing with locals.

“We were a bit anxious about how Kiwis would see us, but we’re really enjoying having them. It's a different conversation with foreigners who want to know the whole thing, how New Zealand operates, in three hours.”

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Hutchinson says that travel agents who historically were not interested in domestic bus tour bus packages are now selling them, but competition is stiff as companies that once specialised in international visitors, dip into the local market.

According to Stats NZ, Kiwis over the age of 55 returning from overseas trips peaked at close to 100,000 a month in August and September 2019, so there is potential to pick up those unable to make their annual winter migration to Australia or the Pacific Islands.

Moa has started winter bus tours and Gold Club Tours managing director Karl Petrie is pondering going down that route.

He says package prices are the same or lower than pre-Covid, and he has upped the standard of accommodation and activities to compete.

Instead of touring Napier’s Art Deco buildings by bus, customers are now chauffeur-driven in classic cars, and Petrie says getting the product right is vital. “If they’re not happy, it’s New Zealand, and everyone is going to know.”

When it comes to advance planning, only about half bother making any bookings before they leave home, and that is proving a nightmare for operators trying to juggle staff rosters.

Heritage Expeditions has bought the 30-metre Heritage Explorer, which will take cruises around New Zealand. It will have en suite cabins, a cocktail bar, library and an on-board chef producing meals with local produce.

Garry Munro has three hotel and apartment complexes in Nelson, and he is desperately trying to keep his 150-odd workers employed.

Auckland’s lurch in and out of lockdown was tough. “We instantly lose half of our business, when the Auckland market collapses, we lose thousands and thousands of dollars.”

On the plus side, things are bouncing back faster. “It used to take four to six weeks to recover, now two weeks after the Auckland lockdown and its back to the level it was before.”

Heritage Expeditions leader Aaron Russ says coping with a wide range of physical abilities is about providing options. “There will be those who want to climb a mountain and others who are happy to go botanizing along the shore in a zodiac.”

Where Munro used to get half a dozen bus tours a week, he is now seeing about two a month, but “every little bit helps”, so he is pleased to see “silver surfers” cruise into reception.

They like to bargain and want value for money, and Munro is not convinced they spend much on activities.

“They just want to drive and look, they won't want to leap on a boat and go somewhere, they want a bit of a walk or lunch.”

For all the bargain hunters, there are also those happy to spend freely now they cannot jet off overseas.

Using Russian charter vessel Spirit of Enderby, Heritage Expeditions will have done 10 voyages around Fiordland and down to the subantarctic islands by the end of this cruise season.

The trips put about $4m into the economy and silver travellers made up the bulk of the 400 to 500 passengers.

“But interestingly in the last year with Covid we have seen more of that 50-plus group because they can’t go off to their ski holiday in the Northern Hemisphere and those sorts of things,” says Heritage Expeditions director Aaron Russ.

Generally speaking his clientele are university-educated professionals who want to learn something as well as be entertained, and they are not just after a “booze cruise”.

Russ hires expert guides and says New Zealand’s addiction to the “adventure story” means it can be challenging finding appropriately qualified people.

“There’s a whole pool of guides who have a really strong adventure background, which is great when you are rafting down the Shotover River, but if you’re trying to find a guide who can explain the geology of the Shotover at the same time, then your pool gets a whole lot smaller really fast.”

Russ’ confidence in the older market is such that Heritage Expeditions has just invested (he won’t say how much) in buying a 30-metre vessel capable of carrying up to 18 passengers.

The New Zealand-flagged Heritage Explorer will offer boutique cruises and private charters around the Hauraki Gulf, Bay of Islands, Marlborough Sounds, Stewart Island and Fiordland.

Whether seniors will be content holidaying at home once the borders open remains to be seen, and Russ’ take is that providing high quality value-for-money experiences will help keep their custom.

When French cruise line Ponant tried, albeit unsucessfully, to run Kiwis-only cruises around New Zealand over summer using its small luxury Le Lepérouse vessel, it had people prepared to pay up to $60,000 for a top-line double cabin.

“If you look at a lot of these cruise clients they have an expectation of service, which is above what you can achieve in most of New Zealand,” says Russ.

“One way of looking at it is that they are choosing to go overseas because they are getting an experience that they can’t get here.”