Travel bookings via the internet continue to climb with many New Zealanders using the web between 8 pm and 7am to look, book and pay for their holidays. Latest figures produced by online agency ZUJI.co.nz says about a third of their bookings are received during these hours, revealing that people enjoy the web experience.

The growth of online travel sales is disproportionately large to the increase in the global travel market, explains ZUJI New Zealand general manager David Allen. In New Zealand outbound travel growth increases about 6% per year online sales are growing significantly more than this.

Just over 30% of all bookings on ZUJI occurred between 8pm and 7am when traditional travel agents are closed, says Mr Allen. This shows that the convenience of 24 hours a day, seven days a week access to travel choices on ZUJI, matched with the ability to confirm the booking and pay online in real time, is helping to drive a shift in travel buying habits across Asia Pacific.

ZUJI has offices throughout Asia Pacific including New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. In New Zealand ZUJI operates under license by NZX listed, Gullivers Pacific Travel Group.

The New Zealand night time sales are in contrast to Australia ZUJI sales where 25% are made between the hours of 8pm to 7am and 63% during work time between 9 am to 6pm.

Only 17% of all travel through ZUJIs Asia Pacific offices is booked during the weekend with the remainder Monday to Friday.

Fourteen per cent of New Zealand travelers booked international flights within the same week of travel, many of which were long haul flights.

Says Mr Allen: The motives behind the short lead time may reflect a component of small to medium business traveling at short notice, or a consumer trend to wait until the last moment to book their flights online. Flight booking trends imply all travelers can be inspired to travel with tempting deals within a week of travel.

Sydney and London were the top ranked destinations respectively for New Zealanders, while Auckland was the number one visit for Australians. Delhi as a destination for ZUJI travelers had climbed to 20th in top destinations, driven in part by more bookings from New Zealanders.

The issue of international electronic tickets across the ZUJI booking sites had also surged, with only 47% now receiving paper tickets compared with 85% two years ago.
——-