New Zealanders are planning to cut on their holiday travel plans in the next 12 months. A report by Roy Morgan Research, a market research and public opinion survey firm in Australia, explained the reduction in travel plans to the weaker consumer confidence.

The report said that when the survey was made in July 2011, Kiwis who intended to take one holiday in the next 12 months was 72 per cent of the respondents. It was down from 74 per cent in July 2010 and 78 per cent in July 2006.

Broken down into domestic and international travel plans for their next holidays, those who planned to go on a domestic holiday went down to 60 per cent from 63 per cent in 2010 and 66 per cent in 2006. Kiwis who intend to go overseas also slumped to 8 per cent from 10 per cent in 2010.

"The reluctance to take a holiday is not surprising given that consumer confidence has fallen in the past year from 121.2 (quarter ending July 2010) to 108.4 (quarter ending July 2011), according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating," Roy Morgan Research Client Services Director Pip Elliott said in the report.

"This is in line with the significant decline in the percentage of people considering it a good time to buy major household items," he added.

In a bid to convince more Kiwis to travel, Air New Zealand announced on Thursday that it would issue about 700,000 frequent flyer Airports cards that would serve at the same time as a digital boarding pass and MasterCard travel money card.

The card would have an ePass smartchip that would recognise a passenger's booking at domestic check-in kiosks. It is similar to the features of Qantas's Next-Generation Check-in cards.

The card allows holders to carry funds up to four foreign currencies with no loading commissions or extra charge for withdrawals at international ATMs.

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