Tourism

Travel advisories have been issued in Europe that theft is on the rise in New Zealand, as more visitors tell of holidays ruined by criminals targeting campervans.

Like the majority of young visitors, Matt Schoonmaker-Gates, of California, is travelling on a budget and says charging international visitors to enter national parks would discourage people like him.

Those wanting to go on their own tiki tour of Maori experience in the lower South Island now have a map to guide them.

Queenstown businesses reported an increase in the number of Chinese visitors last week and early this week, as the resort experienced a "record Chinese New Year".

Consolidation is inevitable in the tourism sector as operators face a particularly tough year, a leading industry player says.

A record number of Chinese tourists are expected in Queenstown next week, thanks to greatly improved air access and operators' efforts to boost the resort's New Zealand market share, Destination Queenstown says.

An expected Dunedin tourism boom from the Rugby World Cup last year was tempered by the ongoing impact of the Christchurch earthquakes.

The first rise in monthly guest nights in Queenstown since the Christchurch earthquake in February last year is "encouraging", but uncertainties in global tourism remain, which could affect the resort's prosperity in 2012.

Backpackers are still flocking to Christchurch as a must-stop destination, despite the earthquake-ravaged city's ongoing shaking.

The Rugby World Cup seems to have staved off any impact the global financial crisis might have had on tourist numbers to the Waitaki District.