A column by an international sports writer that accused New Zealand of being a rip-off destination has predictably raised hackles.

By Don Kavanagh

A New Zealand Herald column by rugby hack Peter Bills said: “This place is becoming one of the most expensive I visit, one giant rip-off. And most of you seem unaware of it.
“What I find here amazes me. So much so that I don’t know how most ordinary folk manage to balance their budgets. True, petrol is much cheaper than in Britain. But in just about every other field, hotels, car hire, restaurant food, wine, clothes or whatever, you’re the victims of massive overcharging.”
Bills described having to pay $410 for a king room in Wellington’s InterContinental Hotel on a test match weekend as excessive, despite the fact that he was paying rack rate for the room and a bit of foresight could have secured much cheaper accommodation (and he neglected to mention that it was his employer who was paying the bill).
Bills also seemed shocked that a restaurant could charge $40 for a main meal.
He also bemoaned the fact that it cost $14 for a bottle of sauvignon blanc in a restaurant despite the fact that “in supermarkets you can buy a good bottle of your outstanding sauvignon blanc for as little as $12.99,” neglecting to mention what the wine was.
Both the Hospitality Association and the Restaurant Association poured scorn on Bills’ assertions, quite reasonably pointing out that he wasn’t comparing like with like.
“The problem with his columns is that he has taken some quite specific examples from the hospitality industry and they may have been on the high side, but we’re not apologising for providing high-quality experiences,” RANZ chief executive Steve Mackenzie said.
“If we were overly expensive then people simply wouldn’t go out and as a country we spend $5 billion a year on food and beverages. The story wasn’t entirely fair. Our prices are reflective of what is being charged to restaurants.
“We want to provide a range of options for visitors and that includes top-end options. I haven’t waded into this one because, in the end, it’s just one person’s opinion.”
Hospitality Association chief executive Bruce Robertson was more forthright in his summation of Bill’s litany of woe.
“He’s out of touch with reality. If all hospitality companies were making huge profits he might have a point, but they’re not. Most make less than a 5 per cent return on investment; you’d get more putting your money in the bank. It’s an outrageous comment,” he said.
“Maybe he should try getting out in the real world while he’s here. Or maybe he should stick to reporting on rugby.”
Meanwhile, overseas correspondents have been in touch with Hospitality to point out the flaws in Bills’ assertions that Wellington and Auckland are more expensive to dine in than London.
One pointed out a mid-range restaurant in suburban Chiswick that charges the equivalent of $85 for a three-course meal and $8 for a coffee. A similar meal in a similar standard of restaurant in Auckland (New Zealand’s most expensive city) costs $51 and a coffee comes in at $4.