Aussies tourists cut spending in NZ

Australians might still be flocking to New Zealand but they're not opening their wallets as wide as they used to, the country's tour operators say.
New Zealand's annual tourism convention has opened in Queenstown with warnings that the industry is facing the "toughest set of conditions ever".
Visitor numbers through earthquake-ravaged Christchurch are down by up to 30 per cent and tourists are spending considerably less during their travels.
Australians, who make up 45 per cent of travellers to New Zealand, cut their spending by seven per cent, accounting for a third of the overall spending drop.
"The numbers of Australians inbound have held up all right," Tim Cossar, head of Tourism Industry Association New Zealand, told AAP on the opening day of the country's "big sell" event, Trenz.
"What operators are noticing, though, is that the spend hasn't been the same."
He said it was unclear what was behind the drop, but it was possible more were coming on shorter trips to do business or see friends and relatives, rather than purely for leisure.
Mr Cossar said New Zealand had done well to maintain Australian visitor numbers "when the Australian dollar makes a whole lot of destinations very good value right now".
With New Zealand's other traditional markets, the United Kingdom and the United States, both struggling economically, and another big market, Japan, recovering from its own natural disaster, Australia was more important than ever.
"With visitor numbers from Australia around 1.1 million (annually), it's obviously an incredibly important market and one we are doing everything we can to provide for," he said.
He said the global financial climate and Christchurch's February earthquake had created the toughest set of conditions that New Zealand had ever faced. But with the Rugby World Cup following closely behind, the nation had an opportunity to showcase itself as open for business to the 80,000 people expected to visit.
As for visitor numbers in the upcoming winter season, it was a matter of watch and wait, Mr Cossar said.
"Australian bookings for the ski season are definitely down but there are lots of signs it will pick up and we'll see lots of late bookings," he said.
"If it's a great season like last year then I'm sure it will be all great news."