During 2008/09, visitors from the UK were among the most
satisfied with their New Zealand holidays. Overall, they rated
their satisfaction with the New Zealand holiday experience 9.3 out
of 10.
Introduction
Each year Tourism New Zealand commissions independent research
to gain a sense of how satisfied our international visitors are
with the holiday experience New Zealand provides.
Making sure that international visitors have an enjoyable
experience is the key to the future of the tourism industry.
Visitors that have the experience of a lifetime while on holiday in
New Zealand are more likely to recommend the destination to other
people or return for a second visit themselves.
Conducted annually, the Visitor Experience Monitor
provides a benchmark for the New Zealand tourism industry from
which to improve the experiences it offers visitors.
Overall experience
During 2008/09, visitors from the UK were among the most
satisfied with their New Zealand holidays. Overall, they rated
their satisfaction with the New Zealand holiday experience 9.3 out
of 10, which is consistent with previous years. The vast majority
of British visitors (99 per cent) said they were likely to
recommend New Zealand as a holiday destination.
Visitors from the UK said they were more likely to speak or
write positively about New Zealand when speaking to others in
person (98 per cent); when sending emails, instant messages or
letters to individuals (70 per cent); or sharing their opinions in
online forums such as blogs, discussions or social networking
websites (9 per cent).
Accommodation
Among the seven areas mentioned above, accommodation had one of
the lowest overall satisfaction ratings among visitors from the UK.
However, with a rating of 8.7 out of 10, this was still higher than
satisfaction with accommodation across all markets (8.4 out of
10).
With regard to accommodation, visitors from the UK rated quality
of facilities and amenities 8.4 out of 10, quality of service 8.4
and price 8.3.
Food and beverage
Food and beverage was the area with the lowest satisfaction for
visitors from the UK. The overall satisfaction score for food and
beverage was 8.4 out of 10. Although lower than other areas, this
score was still higher than satisfaction with food and beverage
across all markets (8.1 out of 10).
Within the area of food and beverage, visitors rated quality of
food and beverage 8.1 out of 10, quality of service 8.2, and price
8.0. The satisfaction levels of the latter two aspects were higher
than the scores for all other markets.
Transport
Visitors from the UK are reasonably satisfied with transport in
New Zealand. Overall, this area received a satisfaction rating of
8.6 out of 10, which is close to the score for all markets of
8.4.
Satisfaction with price (rated 8.3 out of 10) was slightly lower
than other aspects of transport, including comfort, safety and
reliability (8.5) and quality of service (8.5).
Activities
Visitors from the UK are more satisfied with activities than the
majority of other markets, rating activities 9.2 out of 10,
compared with the overall score of 8.9 for all other markets.
Visitors from the UK were highly satisfied with all aspects of
activities in New Zealand, including quality of the actual activity
(8.7) and quality of service (8.7). Satisfaction with price of
activities was lower at 8.3, but still higher than for all
markets.
The New Zealand environment
Visitors from the UK are highly satisfied with New Zealand's
environment. The overall satisfaction score of 9.0 out of 10 was
close to the score across all other markets (8.9).
Visitors from the UK are most satisfied with New Zealand's
natural landscapes and scenery (rated 9.7 out of 10), uncrowded
spaces (9.3) and our clean, unpolluted environment (9.1).
Safety
Visitors from the UK rated their satisfaction with personal
safety in New Zealand at 8.9, which is close to the overall rating
for safety across all markets (8.7).
Road safety was rated comparatively low at 8.2 out of 10, while
personal safety in country areas (9.1), safety standards of
activities (8.9) and personal safety in urban areas (8.7) all had
strong levels of satisfaction among visitors from the UK.
Holiday planning
The majority of visitors from the UK (94 per cent) decided what
they would do on their holiday after they had made the decision to
come to New Zealand. Conversely, nearly 6 per cent of visitors from
the UK decided the type of holiday they wanted, and then chose New
Zealand as their destination.
The factors that had the most influence on British visitors'
decisions to come to New Zealand were having friends or family here
(30 per cent), the natural scenery (21 per cent) or because they
perceived New Zealand as 'somewhere new' (18 per cent).
Most visitors from the UK booked their trip to New Zealand
between three and 12 months in advance of arriving here.
Twenty-five per cent booked six to twelve months before arrival,
more than one third (36 per cent) booked between three and six
months before arrival, and 14 per cent booked two to three months
before arrival.