Chinese tourists cancel trips to “punish” New Zealand

A kiwi bird sign on the road to Mt Cook National Park, south island of New Zealand, seen during a summer day in these southern alps.
By Alexandra Coulton


A cooling of relations between China and New Zealand has turned icy as Chinese state media reports tourists are cancelling their trips to the land of the long white cloud.

The article suggests tourists are considering abandoning their travel plans as a way to “punish” New Zealand over its decision to ban Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from operating in the country last year.

According to the ABC, Beijing-based worker was quoted in the article referring to New Zealand’s move as a robbery.

“Is it a kind of robbery?” he asked.

“New Zealand stabbed us in the back but asks for our money? This is double-faced.”

The article joins a range of signs of a strained relationship between the two countries, including Beijing pulling the plug on a landmark tourism partnership dubbed the “China-New Zealand Year of Tourism” and an Air New Zealand flight being denied permission to land in Shanghai.

An Air New Zealand spokesperson told Travel Weekly last week the turn around was due to a “technicality”.

China is the fastest growing tourism market to New Zealand and numbers are expected to double by 2023 to around 913,000 visitors, as per the ABC.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

    Latest comments

    1. As a New Zealand professor found, when the truth about China’s global and political infiltration plans are exposed their reaction is at least consistent: If they cannot buy or blackmail their way in they will block other trade mechanisms to bully their way through. If all else fails they employ more covert methods to prevent the truth from emerging. Too many nations follow the Chinese $ at any cost, lets hope NZ is not that weak. If the ‘Five Eyes’ are critically concerned about what China is doing then it should be a massive wakeup call that NZ needs to look to ‘other’ markets for its tourism needs!

      https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/world/asia/new-zealand-academic-harassment-china.html

    2. …. this Is how you politicise travel.. shame on you china.. it only gives weight to the suspicion the government of china is using Huawei on its spying activities globally…

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