Visitor Experience Monitor

Last Updated on: 26 March 2010

During 2008/09 visitors from the US were more satisfied with their holiday in New Zealand than any other market. Overall, they rated their holiday experience 9.4 out of 10, which is consistent with previous years.

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 US were more satisfied with their holiday in New Zealand than any other market. Overall, they rated their holiday experience 9.4 out of 10, which is consistent with previous years. The majority of visitors from the US (97 per cent) said they were likely to recommend New Zealand as a holiday destination.

Visitors from the US 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 (75 per cent); or sharing their opinions in online forums such as blogs, discussions or social networking websites (8 per cent).

Accommodation

Among the seven areas mentioned above, accommodation had one of the lowest overall satisfaction ratings among visitors from the US. However, with a rating of 8.8 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 US rated quality of facilities and amenities at 8.5 out of 10, quality of service at 8.6, and price at 8.3.

Food and beverage

Food and beverage was the area with the lowest satisfaction for visitors from the US. 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 8.2 out of 10, quality of service 8.2, and price 7.9. Satisfaction with all of these aspects was higher for visitors from the US than all other markets.

Transport

Visitors from the US are reasonably satisfied with transport in New Zealand. Overall, this area received a satisfaction rating of 8.9 out of 10, higher than 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 (8.8) and quality of service (8.9). However, satisfaction with these aspects of transport was higher for visitors from the US than all other markets.

Activities

Of all the aspects of a New Zealand holiday, visitors from the US are most satisfied with activities (rated 9.4 out of 10). In comparison, overall satisfaction with activities was 8.9 out of 10 for all other markets.

Visitors from the US had consistently high satisfaction levels across all aspects of activities in New Zealand, including quality of the actual activity (8.9) and quality of service (9.0). Satisfaction with price of activities was lower at 8.4, but this is still higher than all markets.

The New Zealand environment

Visitors from the US are very satisfied with New Zealand's environment. The overall satisfaction score of 9.2 out of 10 was higher than the score across all other markets (8.9).

Visitors from the US are highly satisfied with our natural landscapes and scenery (rated 9.6 out of 10), our clean, unpolluted environment (9.3), and uncrowded spaces (9.2). In comparison, satisfaction with vibrant urban atmospheres was relatively low at 8.3 out of 10, but this aspect was still rated more highly by US visitors than all other markets.

Safety

US visitors rated their personal safety in New Zealand more highly than all other markets, with a rating of 9.3 out of 10 compared with the overall score for all markets of 8.7.

Road safety was rated comparatively low at 8.4 out of 10, while personal safety in country areas (9.4), personal safety in urban areas (9.1) and safety standards of activities (9.0) all enjoyed strong levels of satisfaction.

Holiday planning

The majority of visitors from the US (91 per cent) decided what they would do on their holiday after they had made the decision to come to New Zealand. Conversely, nearly 10 per cent of visitors from the US decided the type of holiday they wanted, and then chose New Zealand as their destination.

The factors that had the most influence on US visitors' decisions to come to New Zealand were having friends or family here (21 per cent), the natural scenery (20 per cent) or because they perceived New Zealand as 'somewhere new' (15 per cent).

Most visitors from the US booked their trip to New Zealand between one and six months in advance of arriving here. Thirty per cent booked between three and six months before arrival, and 21 per cent booked between two and three months before arrival.