Visitors will be able to paddle the Styx (Purukaunui) River and learn about Ngai Tahu history in the South Island’s first tourist waka.Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples and Ngai Tahu kaiwhakahaere (chairman) Mark Solomon helped launch the new tourism venture at Clearwater yesterday.Te Kowhai seats up to 14 people, who will hear stories about the significance of the waka as they travel to Maori historical sites.Katoro Maori Tours manager Dave Brennan said tourists would also learn about traditional fishing techniques and harvesting.

“Tourists these days are looking for real experiences. They don’t just want to sit back and watch. They want to be actively involved,” he said.Brennan said he chose the Styx River because it was an old Ngai Tahu hunting and gathering site.”It is fitting that we’re using waka to bring our culture to our visitors from around the world because it was waka that brought Ngai Tahu to the South Island,” he said.Canterbury Tourism chief executive Christine Prince said she hoped New Zealanders would also take the opportunity to paddle the waka.

Travel spending by domestic and international visitors in 2008 is forecast to increase 5.2 percent, to $778.2 billion, up from projected full-year 2007 travel spending of $740 billion, which would be a 5.7 percent increase over 2006.Domestic leisure trips are expected to continue an upward trend of modest growth in 2008, climbing 2 percent to 1.6 billion trips.

Domestic leisure trips are expected to finish 2007 up 2.5 percent over last year.Travel for business in 2008 is expected to remain stable, increasing by 0.4 percent, registering nearly 502 million trips. This slight increase will offset a projected decline of 1.7 percent in business travel for 2007, compared with a year ago.International travel (including visitors from Canada and Mexico) to the United States is expected to rise 3.7 percent in 2008 to 55.6 million visitors, following a projected 5.1 percent increase for 2007.

However, the year-over-year data mask an 11 percent decline in overseas visitors to the U.S. from 2000 – 2007. Overseas travelers, primarily from Western Europe and Japan, represent the United States’ top inbound visitors and spend the most money. Although overseas travel is expected to increase slightly in 2007, it has yet to surpass the 2000 level, despite the weak dollar making the U.S. a travel bargain.