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Louise Upston: Tourism Minister on Jetstar announcing new routes in latest expansion · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk st B.
• 0:12
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  Speaker 2: Competition's heading up for air New Zealand and the domestic market.
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  Speaker 2: Jetstar has announced today it's biggest ever expansion in New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand with over six hundred thousand extra seats. There's also
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  Speaker 2: a new daily route between Hamilton and christ Church and
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  Speaker 2: seasonal roots from Queenstown to Brisbane. Louise Upston is the
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  Speaker 2: Tourism Minister and with us.
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  Speaker 3: Now, Hi, Louise, good afternoon, How are you well?
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  Speaker 2: Thank you? You like the look of it, Oh, it's great news.
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  Speaker 3: And look what it says is that Jetstar and Quantus
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  Speaker 3: have real confidence in the market in New Zealand, and
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  Speaker 3: they're really confident about the direction the government's taking in
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  Speaker 3: our absolute unabashed ambition for more visitors into New Zealand.
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  Speaker 2: What do you reckons more exciting the Hamilton christ Church
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  Speaker 2: route or the Queenstown Brisbane route.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, it's a bit of a toss up, but being
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  Speaker 3: a sort of one that uses the Hamilton airport, that's
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  Speaker 3: got to be a pretty exciting one.
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  Speaker 2: So, purely from a self serving position, I like.
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  Speaker 3: Why would it be anything else. No, Look, in all seriousness,
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  Speaker 3: you know, this is the single biggest expansion ever of
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  Speaker 3: Jetstar New Zealand and also the Trans Tasman network, So
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  Speaker 3: that is a significant step for Jetstar and Quantus. I
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  Speaker 3: think it's a really exciting day in terms of increased options,
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  Speaker 3: increased choice and of course increased competition, and it just
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  Speaker 3: gives more options both within New Zealand but also more
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  Speaker 3: destinations that we can get to in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I look at something like this and the first
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  Speaker 2: aught that comes to mind is why is a New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand not being this confident and expanding. Do you have
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  Speaker 2: some concerns about that we've got an Australian carrier who's
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  Speaker 2: prepared to up the number of seats while a New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand just doesn't have that level of ability.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think in New Zealand would need to answer
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  Speaker 3: any questions about that. You know, they've got it, had
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  Speaker 3: a number of challenges that they have faced, but I
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  Speaker 3: think this is a really positive sign for New Zealand
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  Speaker 3: and for New Zealand tourism. What we do want to
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  Speaker 3: do is attract more airlines to bring international routes into
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  Speaker 3: the various airports across New Zealand. So while Auckland will
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  Speaker 3: see the lion's share, it's really exciting to see jet
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  Speaker 3: Star earlier this year coming into Hamilton, coming into Dunedin.
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  Speaker 3: It gives lots more opportunities for those Australians that are
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  Speaker 3: increasing in their numbers coming to our shores, the places
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  Speaker 3: they land and therefore where they travel, and the businesses
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  Speaker 3: that benefit from that. So getting into more regions is
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  Speaker 3: really exciting, but it also means there's more options around
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  Speaker 3: schedules and price for domestic connections, and I think it's
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  Speaker 3: a really positive day for New Zealand to see Quantus
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  Speaker 3: and Jetstar delivering six hundred and sixty thousand fewer seats,
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  Speaker 3: sorry more seats.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, kind of the opposite. Luise, how do we get
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  Speaker 2: peg because everybody's obviously, I mean just look at that.
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  Speaker 2: Look it's Brisbane to Queenstown, right. Everybody loves the South Island.
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  Speaker 2: How do we get these tourists to love the North Island.
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's where I think, you know, destinations like Hamilton
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  Speaker 3: are really important. So it's getting people to fly into Hamilton,
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  Speaker 3: they're then traveling around the central North Island the same
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  Speaker 3: as Dunedin, so they might land in Dunedin and then
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  Speaker 3: travel through a different part of the South Island. The
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  Speaker 3: regions are coordinating and collaborating, so the Southern Way is
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  Speaker 3: working together to say, once somebody's landed in Dunedin, how
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  Speaker 3: do we make it easier for them to explore parts
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  Speaker 3: of New Zealand that they otherwise might not And so
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  Speaker 3: it's really ensuring we get more visitors, we get more
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  Speaker 3: Australians choosing to visit New Zealand and then encouraging and
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  Speaker 3: enabling them to move around New Zealand and experience different places,
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  Speaker 3: so that's where they land in the first place. But
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  Speaker 3: also cheaper domestic fares also make it easier for international
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  Speaker 3: visitors to move around the country and experience more places.
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  Speaker 3: So that's an absolute one one.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Louis appreciate it. Louis Eupston, Tourism Minister.
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  Speaker 2: Hither Jetstar Asia shut down their operations and that's where
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  Speaker 2: the planes have come from.
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