NZ tourist - right strategy - but is NZ ready?

NZ still needs to do some work if it wants to develop a sustainable tourism industry. This by necessity includes some investment, not in more welfare, but in the infrastructure which supports its export businesses, and that includes:
1. Roads - Here is a story of people dying in a road accident. In fairness to NZ, its plausible that the scenery was so compelling that these tourists took their eye away from the road. And of course there is a price to be paid for laying 3-lane highways everywhere - not just in financial terms, but in terms of the scenic experience itself. This commentary therefore has to be a warning for tourists to take it easy on the roads. i.e. You might think in 'quiet NZ' you are alone on the road, and can pull over anywhere for a photo, or that you can afford to take your focus off the road, but at an inopportune time, a car can appear from around a corner, or a car can seek to overtake you at 110kmph...ambivalent about your 'photo moment'. My greatest concern with NZ roads is that they are a poorly laid legacy of old roadworks. They have not be regraded to offer better contouring; just resurfaced. So they are not well-engineered for remote, single-carriage roads. Incidentally, tourist trails are even worse in terms of signage. NZ is already working on these issues, but it will take time. The Wanganui-National Park highway section is almost finished. Yes, it's a highway. But spare a thought for minor back roads.
2. Racism - I see that NZ Tourism is promoting NZ to Asia. This is fine. The problem is the high level of anti-Asian sentiment in NZ. This is going to be an obstacle, both because of its entrenched presence, and because of recession. Might I note that the country of the moment is Indonesia. How is NZ going to handle a lot of 'towel heads' ('Muslims') coming to NZ? Are they going to welcome them, or persecute them under some notion of payback. This is not to say all NZ'ers are like this. Its a 50/50 split. You get those who will go out of their way to be kind; and then you get the other extreme. These are the people who will undermine the tourism industry. To their credit, the tourism industry appears to have been working with the media industry to downplay this negativity. I've seen a number of examples lately of NZ portraying Asians in a positive light, i.e. A Japanese/NZ couple transforming the fashion market; a Korean NZ'ers who won the junior golf championships.

NZ has a lot to offer...it would be a shame to cause Asians to spurn it as a tourist or immigration destination. The government does seem to have moved in the right direction. The tourist agency has a good strategy. The question is whether NZ is 'with them'. Do NZ'ers appreciate its tourist industries? These are not the easiest times to attract tourists. Most Asians are staying and travelling within Asia. Its a recession and the Australian and NZ currencies are high.

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Author Andrew Sheldon| Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com

Living with banks in NZ

I have had 2 reasons for dealing with ANZ in New Zealand recently, and I must say that the service suxs. The bad news is that its not just ANZ, its probably all banks around the world. Why are they so privileged; when they sux worse that most people. Here are the issues:

1. ANZ Cheque cancellation: A bank cheque does lost in the mail. I presumptuously went to the bank thinking that they would be able to track down the cheque within a minute. Because they did not actually track cheques, offered no reference on the bank statement, it took 30 minutes for the branch attendant to realise that she can't help me without a receipt. I gave up, deciding to look for a receipt. The bank did not have records online for more than 3months. So I went to another branch. This time armed with the exact date I drew the cheque. She found the branch; the details were not online. The branch finally called back with a cheque number; at which point we were referred to the wrong person, then the right person. On Gmail I can find my details in seconds going back 5 years. These mega-corporations with immense resources cannot track down a bank cheque within a minute....it takes them 90 minutes....and 4 staff. Unbelievable! 

2. ANZ Withdrawal: My partner and I were overseas and we had $709 withdrawn from our account. We could not account for the missing funds, so we contacted the bank. They could give us no information for a day. Once again, there was no information...just withdrawal 05464463535333. Suddenly the funds appeared the next day. It seems the funds were withdrawn without explanation. 

3. ASB Automatic withdrawals: I had a previous experience with ASB Bank as well, owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Now, I have a long history of problems with CBA in Australia, principally related to the stunted individual who was charged with sexual harassment in their securities division COMSEC. I was initially impressed by how quickly they were able to set up a bank account for me. The problem arose because an automatic payment placed by account in arears, and I received a sequence of default fees which reoccurred, and the bank manager was not there to fix the problem. She was the only one who could resolve the issue. 

4. Commonwealth Bank - The owners of ASB in NZ. I have a separate blog for describing my experiences with them. In fairness to this bank, they offer pretty progress services in their main banking division, and have lead the rest of the industry in new initiatives. From an operations perspective however, they really suxed in their COMSEC division. 

I know one of these banking executives. There is nothing special about them. They might have good memories....the one I'm thinking of is the son of former banking executive. So self-important, so deficient in self-worth, so arrogant....yep, give then million-dollar salaries....that will make it a better world. If anyone thinks this society is designed to reward 'achievers' think again. My experience is that achievers are spurned and marginalised. Change the political system - its the key!

I had hopes that the class action against the banks would put them in their place. Sadly, the judge took a 'letter of the law' interpretation of the law, as opposed to a contextual approach. Oh well, life drags on. 

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Author Andrew Sheldon| Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com