Bumper season nears

Queenstown is looking at its best ever season this year with record online bookings, cheap airfares and a weak New Zealand dollar promising a booming 2009. NZSki Ltd CEO James Coddington suggested that “the winter of 2009 could be the best ever.” “I’ve recently returned from a 10-day trip to Australia and feel buoyed about what I saw and heard,” Coddington said. “There’s phenomenal noise about holidaying in New Zealand at the moment due to Tourism New Zealand’s extended advertising campaign.” Of the 1.1 million Australians that actively ski or snowboard, only 60,000 to 80,000 of them visit New Zealand’s slopes each year. Coddington said he hoped to increase that number to 100,000 this season.