According to the latest surveys, an impressive 95% of international holiday arrivals to New Zealand feel their holiday met or exceeded their expectations. However, although New Zealand has seen its tourist arrivals from the US and China rebound strongly, more work is needed to build the Aussie market.

Auckland International Airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui put it bluntly when she addressed the TRENZ convention yesterday. She said Australians were not choosing New Zealand as their prime leisure destination. “They are choosing Indonesia”.

Over 1000 delegates, including international buyers from 25 countries and domestic tourism sellers, have arrived in the New Zealand capital of Wellington (also known by its Māori name Te Whanganui a Tara) for TRENZ, New Zealand’s largest and most influential tourism business event.

American tourists are flooding back into New Zealand, “partly supported by stellar airline connectivity between the US and New Zealand,” Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) Chief Executive Rebecca Ingram told the audience.

“The China market showed positive improvement around Chinese New Year which is also pleasing to see.”

Ingram said the tourism industry’s profile “reflects that of New Zealand business—with the majority made up of small businesses of less than 20 employees, and then of course larger businesses that have significant reach and impact.

“At an individual business level, the feedback is that this summer exceeded most operators’ expectations. The golden weather has helped, and some operators reported being rushed off their feet.

“There are green shoots – at TRENZ this week, we have 45 new sellers and 28 new products on show. Everywhere I have gone, I’ve heard a common refrain that tourism has momentum and the positive impacts are rippling around the motu [country].

“Tourism is an important economic contributor for New Zealand. Overall, tourism’s total contribution to the economy is rebuilding strongly. MBIE’s International Visitor Survey for December shows international visitor spending was NZ$9.9 billion.”

Ingram continued, “When tourism does well, the country also does well. The Tourism Satellite Account—our most comprehensive source of data—shows that by March 2023, tourism was already contributing 6.2 per cent of GDP, and visitor spending was creating NZ$3.5 billion in GST.

“Since then, further recovery has taken place as tourism works to restore its position alongside Dairy as New Zealand’s largest export-earning sector.

Ingram said overseas visitor arrivals generally tracked to expectations – in February, they were back to 82% of 2019 levels, but there was some variation between markets.

TIA surveyed its nearly 1,300 tourism business members in March (tourism accounts for about 11% of the country’s workforce) and discovered “an overriding sense of optimism,” Ingram said.

“About 80% are feeling optimistic about the next 12 months.  Like many businesses, tourism business owners are conscious of increasing costs and product pricing, which is quickly followed by workforce retention. Weather-related challenges, climate change-related impacts, and managing staff wellbeing are also at the top of my mind.

“Tourism businesses are still looking for great people – 50% told us they were recruiting.

“We are also seeing positive changes in the seasonal nature of our workforce, with 74% of respondents planning to hold their staff levels over the winter as they did last year to retain skills and ensure they were ready for next summer.

“As an industry, we are very focused on visitor experience, and there is much to be proud of, with recent figures showing that 95% of international holiday arrivals felt their holiday had met or exceeded their expectations.

“With word of mouth being a critical factor in future visitation, ensuring we meet the mark on delivery is essential. It is very pleasing to see such strong delivery for our manuhiri [visitors].

“The latest Views on Tourism survey just out shows 93% of New Zealanders believe international tourism is good for New Zealand, and that’s up 1%. The survey also shows that 80% of New Zealanders personally benefited from tourism activity in their local area in the year ending March 2024.”

“I take great pride in the progress the tourism industry is making in the environmental space. More than 1900 businesses have signed up for the Tourism Sustainability Commitment, also known as the TSC.

“The TSC takes a broad view of sustainability, examining economic and visitor sentiment, cultural and community engagement, and environmental aspects—reflecting the holistic direction of the tourism industry.

“However, we can’t take this summer’s success for granted. The geopolitical situation overseas is volatile. Inflation is proving stubborn. And the need to mitigate climate change will bring profound change.”

 

 

 

Written by: Peter Needham in Wellington, New Zealand

 

 

 

 

 

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