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New Zealand plans to reopen to international visitors by the end of April.

Emerging from one of the world’s longest lockdowns, the country plans to admit most fully vaccinated travelers by the end of April without a mandatory hotel quarantine.

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New Zealand Plans to Reopen to Foreign Tourists by the End of April

Fully vaccinated travelers entering the country next year will face significant restrictions, with a mandatory seven-day home isolation period, as well as tests on departure and arrival..

Today, I am confirming that fully vaccinated New Zealanders will find it easier to come home from January. And foreign nationals follow from April onwards, as we remove the requirement for managed isolation and quarantine for most travelers arriving into New Zealand. There will still be carefully managed processes for recent arrivals, including a mandatory seven-day self-isolation period for people who are not required to enter MIQ. We do know that the international restrictions we have had around our border have been tough for many people. That’s why we’re making this announcement today, to give families, businesses, visitors, airlines, airports and others the time to prepare.

By Natasha Frost

New Zealand plans to allow most fully vaccinated travelers into the country by the end of April without a mandatory hotel quarantine, as it slowly emerges from what has been one of the world’s longest lockdowns.

But those entering the country next year will face significant restrictions, with a mandatory seven-day home isolation period, as well as tests on departure and arrival. The border will open in stages to different countries, with fully vaccinated New Zealanders and visa holders able to travel from Australia from Jan. 16 and from elsewhere in the world starting Feb. 13. Foreign nationals will follow from April 30.

Experts have for weeks questioned the need for requiring new arrivals to quarantine when the virus is already in the community, and experts say international arrivals seem to pose no additional risk. No fully vaccinated travelers from Australia, for example, have tested positive in New Zealand’s hotel quarantine system since Aug. 23.

Some 84 percent of people in New Zealand age 12 and up are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. And representatives from the country’s tourism industry, which has struggled to contend with the long absence of foreign visitors , decried the seven-day isolation requirement.

New Zealand has been on edge since August, when an outbreak of the Delta variant erupted in Auckland and put an end to the country’s “zero Covid” approach.

“It’s very encouraging that we as a country are now in a position to move towards greater normality,” Chris Hipkins, the minister responsible for New Zealand’s pandemic response, said at a news conference on Wednesday. “I do want to emphasize, though, that travel in 2022 won’t necessarily be exactly the same as it was in pre-2020 travel.”

For over a year, New Zealand has operated a lottery system for citizens and permanent residents who want to return, locking people out of the country and creating a large backlog. The system has faced legal challenges from people desperate to return home from overseas and be reunited with their families.

New Zealand is waiting until April to fully open to permit time for airlines to plan, he said, as well as to allow a transition to the country’s new “traffic light” pandemic management system that starts Dec. 2. That system will end lockdowns and place significant restrictions on the unvaccinated, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced at a news conference on Monday.

On Dec. 15, Auckland — where the country’s outbreak is concentrated — will open its border to the rest of the country.

Before the pandemic, tourism was a big part of the New Zealand economy, employing nearly 230,000 people and contributing 41.9 billion New Zealand dollars ($30.2 billion) a year. About 3.8 million foreign tourists visited between 2018 and 2019, with the majority coming from Australia. Though domestic tourism has surged while borders have been closed, the industry has struggled to make up its losses, as international tourists spend about three times as much per person as their domestic peers.

Defending New Zealand’s caution, Mr. Hipkins pointed to the new virus wave that is crashing through Europe . “As we move into 2022, we know that the pandemic is not over,” he said. “It’s not going to suddenly end, and we only need to look at Europe to know that the path out of the pandemic is not a straightforward one.”

Natasha Frost is a newsletter writer on the Europe Edition of the Morning Briefing. More about Natasha Frost

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Focus on high-spending tourists paying off - tourism nz.

Total visitor arrivals are above 80 percent of pre-Covid 2019 levels. Photo: 123RF

New Zealand will have to work harder to attract tourists as international travellers tighten their purse strings, a tourism leader says.

Total visitor arrivals are above 80 percent of pre-Covid 2019 levels, with holiday arrivals in a similar boat.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy said travel was one of the areas people look to cut back on in tougher times, and they would be tracking the impact it had on people's travel choices.

But he remained optimistic that Aotearoa could avoid the worst of it, as a niche destination which represented 0.3 percent of global travel volume and 0.8 percent of global travel value.

"We're at the more premium end, so possibly a bit more insulated from economic pressure stopping people from travelling to New Zealand."

New Zealand was well-placed as a destination and international tourism was an opportunity to provide more of a buffer to the economy, he said.

"Previously the largest export, it's also one in 10 jobs, the number one employer in New Zealand. I think it's going to be critically important for our own economic resilience in the coming years."

He was expecting a strong summer, but said Tourism New Zealand would be monitoring pressure points over the summer, given its the end of the first full year since the country reopened its borders.

To help with that, Tourism New Zealand has been campaigning to attract visitors who visited more regions, travelled in different seasons and spent more.

It has started to pay off, with strong arrivals during quieter months, particularly for events like the FIFA Women's World Cup , he said.

"That's really positive to see especially outside of the peak season because that's a real opportunity to improve the value and the productivity of the tourism sector."

Overseas tourists were also spending more compared to 2019.

"Total arrivals are about 86 or so percent of the pre-Covid level with holiday arrivals pretty similar - 85 percent. But what's interesting is… total international visitor spend is up about 18 percent more than Covid."

Airline capacity was sitting at about 90 percent of pre-Covid levels, with better connectivity and more routes opening up this year.

Close to half of people actively considering a trip to Aotearoa in the next three years ticked New Zealand as their number one choice, he said.

Tourism New Zealand - a Crown agency - also remained hopeful planned budget cuts may be changed under the new government.

The previous government was looking to find nearly $4 billion in savings, cuts, delays and reprioritisations over four years including $60 million from tourism .

Tourism New Zealand's baseline funding was on the chopping block as part of the plan.

René de Monchy said they were looking forward to discussions with new Tourism Minister Matt Doocey, where they could lay out their plan and priorities for tourism.

"Being visible in the world, particularly as a niche destination, finding the relatively small number of people in the world that are considering New Zealand and enticing the highest quality ones to choose New Zealand takes work and effort and does take money.

"So we will be focused on actually showing the minister the return on that investment, the impact that we can help create."

Copyright © 2023 , Radio New Zealand

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New Zealand’s Tourism Recovery Gets Lift From Independent Travelers Not on Tours

Lucy Craymer, Reuters

March 14th, 2023 at 6:52 AM EDT

Demand has been much higher than anticipated, with New Zealand appealing to free spirits from the U.S. and neighboring Australia in particular.

Matthew Parsons

When cruises started taking bookings at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, Australians Eunice and John Rowley quickly made plans for their first ever visit to New Zealand.

“We heard on the 9 o’clock news bulletin that they were opening up cruises and by the afternoon we had two cruises booked,” said Eunice, who is travelling with her husband on the Grand Princess around New Zealand.

“We’d never been to New Zealand, so we thought this is our opportunity.”

New Zealand’s international tourist sector disappeared overnight when the country became one of the first to seal its borders at the beginning of the Covid outbreak in early 2020.

But since borders fully reopened in August , foreign tourists have been making their way back and are responsible for one of the main bright spots for an economy battling headwinds as a possible recession looms.

International visitor numbers in January were already back to two-thirds of what they were before the pandemic began, according to the latest data released on Tuesday by Statistics New Zealand.

“It’s been pretty busy across our portfolio,” said Stephen England-Hall, CEO of RealNZ, which operates a number of tourist activities in New Zealand’s South Island such as cruises and jet-boat rides.

He said while not yet back to 2019 levels, demand over the New Zealand summer had been much higher than they had anticipated, with independent travellers in particular fuelling the recovery.

He said arrivals at some airports were actually higher than in 2019 but those good figures were offset by fewer tourists visiting by car, camper van and bus.

Before the pandemic, tourism was New Zealand’s largest source of foreign exchange and accounted for about 5.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The reviving sector is expected to have supported growth in the quarter to December. The data is out on Thursday and is expected to show a 0.2 percent contraction in the fourth quarter.

‘Solid Tourism’

Some tourism-related industries have even been performing better than before the pandemic.

Food and accommodation is up 10.3 percent on pre-pandemic levels, according to an analysis of Statistics NZ GDP data for the September 2022 quarter by the Wellington-based economics consultancy Infometrics.

Tourists are having to spend more because inflation in New Zealand is near a three-decade high but Brad Olsen, principal economist at Infometrics, said it was difficult to fully understand why the figure was up so much.

“Solid tourism activity is likely to partially but not fully offset weaker construction, retail, and manufacturing activity,” Olsen said.

While tourist arrivals from the likes of Australia and the U.S. were returning to normal levels , the numbers for several markets, including China, remain well below pre-pandemic numbers.

China in January allowed group tours to 20 countries as it threw off its strict COVID policy, with New Zealand on this list along with Thailand and Russia.

The first Chinese groups arrived in February.

“The recovery varies from market to market based on airline connectivity and the late removal of COVID restrictions last year compared to other countries lifting travel restrictions earlier,” said Tourism Export Council New Zealand chief executive Lynda Keene.

Higher numbers of Chinese visitors are expected to begin showing up in the February and March data, she said.

“It’s encouraging to see we’re tracking in an upward direction,” she said.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Copyright (2023) Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions

This article was written by Lucy Craymer from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace . Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected] .

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Danger ahead: White Island volcano ruling could reshape adventure tourism in New Zealand

One expert says tougher regulations will have ‘enormous implications’ for the industry in a country that promotes itself as the adventure capital of the world

W hite water rafting guide Hamish Watters stands in a garage, a 30-minute drive north of Wellington city, hosing down an inflatable raft and hanging lifejackets up to dry. The owner of Wellington Rafting has just taken five tourists down the swollen rapids of the Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt river.

It has been a good morning for it – rain the previous day has lifted the river levels, giving customers a thrilling ride as they flew over gushing white water, hurling their rafts over hidden boulders and negotiating eddies near the gnarled banks.

It can be a dangerous sport, with potential problems around every bend – from slippery rocks to flash flooding and landslides, or being turfed out of the boat – but Watters has his safety protocols down pat.

“That stuff we can mitigate, by studying the environment … we find ourselves very, very connected to the elements,” Watters says.

Customers are given a full run-down of the hazards before they go near the water and are prepared with a safety briefing “so they can 100% understand the risks involved”, Watters says. Before hopping into the rafts, customers gear up in hard hats, wetsuits and lifejackets.

Wellington Rafting is one of roughly 300 registered adventure tourism operators in New Zealand trying to strike a balance between offering exciting and potentially dangerous experiences while keeping their customers safe. Now, that responsibility will be even greater.

The safety of adventure tourism has been pulled into sharper focus after a court ruling last week found the owners of Whakaari/White Island volcano guilty of failing to adequately communicate the risks to visitors touring active volcano. In 2019, the volcano – a popular tourist destination 48km off the east coast of the North Island – erupted , killing 22 people who were touring the crater and injuring 25.

The disaster has led to tougher regulations requiring tourist operators to tell customers about serious risks before they embark on an adventure, but questions remain over the lasting impact of the tragedy on the wider adventure tourism industry, which forms a crucial part of New Zealand’s NZ$40bn (£19.3bn) tourism sector.

The Whakaari case and new regulations will have “enormous implications for all tourism businesses” and will extend far beyond adventure operators, says James Higham, a professor in tourism at Griffith University.

“Any tourism business that takes place in environments that are potentially dangerous will need to take note of this and take steps towards knowing what their responsibilities are.”

‘Adventure capital of the world’

New Zealand promotes itself as being the adventure capital of the world, with some New Zealanders responsible for creating and popularising some of the most famous adventure sports, including bungee jumping, zorbing and jet boating.

Its adventure activities are so popular in part because of its record on safety. New Zealand is an outlier among other jurisdictions in requiring adventure activity operators to register their activities, thereby increasing the regulatory oversight of their business.

“New Zealand has a global reputation in international tourism for being an advanced democracy, with legal systems and tourism policies in place and a safe destination that people visit to experience nature,” Higham says.

Adventure tourism is not consistently tracked as a separate industry, but figures from 2011 show that 36% of international tourists that year took part in at least one adventure tourism activity while in New Zealand, contributing $4.1bn to the economy.

“It’s fair to say that we’ve become known internationally for the ability to get your blood pumping,” says Rebecca Ingram, the chief executive of Tourism Industry Aoteaora, the national body for tourism operators.

“We’re not the sort of destination where you lie by the pool – you’re likely really motivated by getting into the outdoors and experiencing the environment, because that’s what a holiday in New Zealand entails,” Ingram said.

But the potential of natural risk looms large in New Zealand, an island nation that forms a spine over a tectonic fault line, and which is exposed to seismic, geothermal and meteorological hazards.

Activities such as bungee jumping look enormously risky, when in actual fact they are “planned to the nth degree”, Higham says. Meanwhile, “going off into the national park on a beautiful spring day has a very low perceived risk but circumstances can change and those can be extremely challenging environments.”

When Whakaari erupted, the world became aware of just how sudden and how devastating New Zealand’s natural hazards could be. Some survivors of the eruption told a New Zealand court in July they were not informed of the potential dangers regarding a possible volcanic eruption until they were already on the volcano, and safety measures were lax .

Tougher regulations imposed

In response to the tragedy and lack of proper communication over risk, the Labour government announced the introduction of tougher safety regulations on the industry to come into effect in April 2024, with a further sector-wide review earmarked for 2026.

The incoming rules will heighten the onus on operators, as well as landowners, transport providers and tour companies, to communicate serious risks to customers before they buy a ticket. They will also be expected to consistently assess risk and work with agencies such as GNS, which monitors seismic activity, and meteorological services to provide day-to-day updates about hazards.

The country’s primary workplace and safety regulator, WorkSafe, will also receive expanded powers to shut down operators immediately and refuse registrations if there is evidence of imminent risk to people.

Many operators already working to meet the requirements, says Ingram, and the organisation will work with the industry to get everyone up to speed by next year. But WorkSafe has not yet released “really important information” about how the rules will be applied, she adds, including the degree of responsibility on operators throughout the supply-chain and how natural hazards will be managed.

Fundamentally, however, operators understand that maintaining a reputation as a safe country for adventure sports will keep the sector booming.

“It is incredibly important that we take care of our manuhiri [guests] and that they leave the country with wonderful memories,” Ingram says.

Rafting guide Watters believes operators will take the new rules in their stride. Managing ever-shifting environments, be they regulatory or natural, is part of the job.

“Adventure guides are really used to being dynamic and adapting to new changes – that’s our work all the time, and that’s why we love it.”

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A Trial of New Zealand Tourism Operators in the Volcanic Eruption That Killed 22 People Ends

A trial of New Zealand tourism operators accused of safety breaches after 22 people died in a 2019 volcanic eruption has ended with the last remaining defendant found guilty on one count

Michael Schade

FILE - In photo provided by Michael Schade, tourists on a boat look at the eruption of the volcano on White Island, New Zealand, Dec. 9, 2019. A trial of New Zealand tourism operators accused of safety breaches after 22 people died in a 2019 volcanic eruption ended Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, with the last remaining defendant being found guilty on one count. (Michael Schade via AP, File)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A trial of New Zealand tourism operators accused of safety breaches after 22 people died in a 2019 volcanic eruption ended Tuesday with the last remaining defendant found guilty on one count.

The three-month, judge-only trial against 13 groups already saw six plead guilty and six have charges against them dismissed. The charges were brought by regulators and carried fines as a maximum penalty.

White Island, the tip of an undersea volcano also known by its Indigenous Māori name Whakaari, was a popular tourist destination before the eruption. There were 47 tourists and tour guides on the island when superheated steam erupted, killing some people instantly and leaving others with agonizing burns.

The final remaining defendant in the trial was Whakaari Management Ltd., the holding company for the island’s owners: Andrew, James and Peter Buttle.

Judge Evangelos Thomas found the company guilty on one charge, saying it had failed to do a risk assessment despite being aware of an eruption three years earlier, which hadn't harmed anybody because it happened at night.

“What should then have been obvious to every Whakaari stakeholder was that any risk assessment and risk management processes in place had failed," the judge said. "They would not have prevented serious injury or loss of life had tours been operating on the island at the time.”

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The judge said the company should then have sought expert advice and either stopped the tours entirely or put controls in place. The judge dismissed a second charge against the company.

Among those to testify in the trial were a newly married couple from Richmond, Virginia , who both survived the eruption.

Lauren Urey, 35, said she and her husband Matt ran for their lives and hid behind rocks after seeing a huge plume rising from the volcano.

“I remember me screaming in agony. My body was sizzling,” Lauren Urey told the judge. “I said: ‘I love you so much. I’m going to die today.’”

The organizations that had earlier pleaded guilty included three companies that operated helicopter tours , one that operated boat tours, a scenic flight operator, and New Zealand scientific agency GNS Science.

The organizations will be sentenced in February, with each facing a maximum fine of 1.5 million New Zealand dollars ($875,000).

Copyright 2023 The  Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Watch: Saturday's report on Posie Parker's rally. Credits: Newshub

Tourism New Zealand's official Twitter account has been targeted with hundreds of negative comments after Posie Parker fled the country following a fiery rally in Auckland on Saturday .

Parker, real name Kellie-Jay Keen Minshull, was forced to leave her event in Albert Park after a hostile reception from transgender rights protesters saw her doused, mobbed, and sprayed by the crowd. She was later spotted at Auckland Airport checking in to an international flight .

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Parker tweeted late on Saturday night that advice from police and her security team was to leave the country and hit out saying "lies were finally spewed by politicians in power in Australia and New Zealand, boosted by a corrupt media populated by vile dishonest unskilled cult members".

Her treatment drew a wave of negative attention on Twitter, with #ShameOnNewZealand trending on Saturday.

In the aftermath Tourism New Zealand was forced to turn off replies to its tweets and its latest post was deleted entirely amid the storm of comments - but calls for visitors to boycott New Zealand continued.

"Having witnessed the treatment of women trying to speak in a public place in Auckland, I won't be visiting NZ anytime soon," one person commented on a Tourism New Zealand promotional tweet.

"I think you just ruined your tourism industry today," a second wrote.

"@PureNewZealand expect your visitor numbers to plummet. Who'd want to visit a place where the government, media and police encourage aggression and mob rule?" a third tweeted.

ACT's tourism spokesperson Dr James McDowall told Newshub it's disappointing but not surprising people are shocked by what happened in Auckland.

"In a civilised country, you counter ideas you don't like with more speech and debate, not violence and intimidation," he said.

"Tourism businesses have been hammered over the past few years, they can't afford for potential tourists to have another reason to take their money elsewhere.

"The Government didn't promote rational behaviour, Ministers actually joined in on the witch-hunt. It sends a message that New Zealand isn't capable of rational debate and allowing people to speak freely."

Others however are celebrating the trans-rights counter-protest at the rally and say it's burnished New Zealand's international image.

"It's good to know that someplace in the world, when you pal around with fascists, demonize trans women and build your grift on bigotry, you might not be welcomed," one person tweeted.

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Talk abut a Turkish delight.

Turkey is the most promiscuous country on the planet, according to an amorous analysis of the world’s sexual habits.

The average Turk has slept with more than 14 people according to World Population Review , putting the naughty nation well above the United States.

“The average number of sexual partners can vary significantly from country to country, as cultural norms can have a significant impact on the number of people someone has sex with,” the website declared, saying the figures were comprised after compiling “datasets from multiple third party sources.”

Turkey’s top spot may surprise some, given that more than 99% of residents are Muslim and the country is widely conceived to have traditional views when it comes sex and relationships.

But the list was full of sultry surprises.

Countries thought to have more liberal views on sex, such as Brazil and France, were surprisingly low down on the list.

The average Brazilian has bedded 9 people, putting the nation in 25th place.

France, meanwhile, was far from frisky, clocking in 29th position. Citizens of that country have slept with an average of 8.1 people.

After Turkey, Australia took second place on the lusty list, with the average Aussie having sex with more than 13 people over the course of their lifetime.

Neighboring New Zealand came in at third, followed by Iceland and South Africa.

The United States scored 13th place, with World Population Review saying Americans sleep with an average of 10.7 people over the years.

That has us tied with Canada, which also clocked the exact same stat.

The World Population Review’s data jibes with research released last year by NapLab, which also found that Americans had slept with 10.7 people over the course of their lifetime.

The least promiscuous countries in the World Population Review’s list were China and India, with citizens sleeping with 3.1 and 3.0 people respectively.

The Top 10 Most Promiscuous Countries

Turkey (14.5 people)

Australia (13.3)

New Zealand (13.2)

Iceland (13.0)

South Africa (12.5)

Finland (12.4)

Norway (12.1)

Italy (11.8)

Sweden (11.8)

Switzerland (11.1)

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If there’s one bloke who knows his way around Bondi, it’s reality star and lifesaver Anthony ‘Harries’ Carroll.

Famed for his role on hit reality TV show Bondi Rescue, Harries is a self-proclaimed “sun worshipper” who until now, wouldn’t give the thrills and chills of winter the time of day.

But after a recent trip across the ditch to experience New Zealand’s winter — spending a week on the slopes and enjoying all that the south island has to offer — the father-of-two has realised Australia has a problem. And one that he too took 47 years to shake.

“Us Aussies love the sun, but we go into hibernation for some reason with coldness,” he told news.com.au off the back of his recent trip.

“Whereas you get over to NZ, and people are just lively. They want to get out, they want to get to the ski fields. Everyone is in a hot spa and enjoying the outside elements.”

With winter fast approaching, the reality star experienced snowboarding on the edge of Mt Cook, 4WD trails across rugged terrain and indulging in all the best food and wine the south island had to offer.

After spending a week surrounded by snow, Harries said a New Zealand winter is an experience that Australia completely misses the mark on.

“I was in these hot springs and I watched this guy surf,” he explained.

“If you could picture 40-degree hotsprings looking out while the sun was rising and watching this one surfer on the waves … I was just like wow … I am floating in heaven.

“We just don't have an experience like that here in Australia … we just don’t have anything like that. I’m actually surprised we haven’t set that up here on the coastline.

“I know we have snow in Australia, but it really is nothing like this.”

Australia is New Zealand’s largest visitor market in 2023, accounting for almost half of all international visitor arrivals.

In 2023 alone, the number of visitor arrivals from Australia to New Zealand rose to over 1.2 million arrivals, a notable increase from the previous year off the back of Covid-19.

While majority of visitors tend to cross the ditch in summer, 23 per cent made the visit in the winter months typically spending on adventure tourism, geothermal attractions, cultural experiences and food and wine.

In an attempt to strengthen Australia’s visitation during the winter months, New Zealand has opened ‘New Ski-Land’ – a tourism initiative spruiking all the things New Zealand has to offer between June to October.

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Andrew Waddel, General Manager – Australia at Tourism New Zealand, said he hopes highlighting all that the country has to offer during winter will entice more Australians to venture across the ditch — which is just a 3-hour flight from the east coast.

“It’s surprising how quickly winter-phobes disappear as soon as the temperature starts to drop, so it was time to show Aussies the light,” he said.

“A trip to New Ski-Land is the best cure for the winter blues. We can’t wait for other self-confessed winter-phobes to experience it for themselves.”

Two British backpackers are sharing their experience working for a farmer that ended after just one day.

A tourist was shocked to see what was unfolding before his eyes at a NZ cinema — and he had many questions about it.

He may only be small, but this unhappy little penguin stopped a plane from taking off at one of New Zealand’s main airports.

News & Activity

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

More travellers looking to tick off “bucket list” holiday new research shows

He Puna Taimoana , Christchurch - Canterbury

By Miles Holden

Latest research shows that economic conditions and reaction to the global pandemic lockdowns mean that more travellers want to escape their ordinary lives and tick off “bucket list” travel, putting Aotearoa New Zealand in a strong position.

“Aotearoa New Zealand’s captivating natural scenery, unique culture and world-class tourism offerings provide a once in a lifetime travel experience and that puts us in a great place to be a bucket list destination,” says Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive René de Monchy.

The research showed that geopolitical tensions and cost of living pressures are influencing travel decision making and readiness to travel.

Planning and research are becoming increasingly important for travellers, even those who are usually more spontaneous in their travel booking style, as they are wanting to get the most out of their travel. The interviews also showed people are spending more time evaluating considerations such as safety, time to travel to the destination and costs.

“Globally, tourism is something many countries are looking to utilise to support economic recovery. Competition is fierce and New Zealand will need to work hard for visitors.”

“As visitors spend more time weighing up their next destination, it’s important we have world-class platforms such as newzealand.com that provide them with compelling and useful information to help them choose New Zealand,” said Mr. de Monchy.

“Likewise, we encourage operators to ensure their digital offering represents their offering.”

Conducting regular consumer research supports Tourism New Zealand’s work to attract high-quality visitors from our key international markets. The information is valuable for tourism operators to help them understand the needs and desires of their customers and grow their businesses.

Read the full report here (opens in new window) .

Tourism New Zealand conducted the qualitative research to investigate the different macro trends and motivational shifts impacting the travel plans of those actively considering a New Zealand holiday.

In this research, Tourism New Zealand conducted in-depth interviews across 10 key markets to provide a deeper understanding into the evolving values, attitudes, and behaviours of our target audiences in 2023 and beyond.

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