The Visitor Experience Monitor (VEM) is an annual survey of
4,566 international visitors that have visited New Zealand
primarily for holiday or to visit friends and relatives (VFR).
The VEM is conducted on an annual basis by Tourism New Zealand
and is primarily used to track the experiences of international
visitors during their stay in New Zealand.
The survey is an online based survey completed by international
visitors between one and three weeks after departing New Zealand.
Their email addresses are collected while they are in New Zealand
through two methods:
- Face-to-face collection in the departure lounges at Auckland
Airport
- Respondents to the International Visitor Survey who agreed to
further research
Emails are collected throughout the year and are weighted, based
on the natural distribution of visitor numbers throughout the year.
This includes the age, gender and country of residence distribution
of visitors to New Zealand as obtained through Statistics New
Zealand's International Travel and Migration Survey.
In 2011/12, 4,566 international visitors completed the VEM. Sample
size as broken down by market:
- Australia - 1,695
- UK - 660
- USA - 321
- Germany - 265
- China - 176
- Japan - 216
- Korea - 116
Key areas the VEM cover include:
- International tourists satisfaction with key components of a
trip to New Zealand
- Information sources used pre and during a trip to New
Zealand
- Regional visitation throughout New Zealand
- Activities conducted in New Zealand
- Accommodation and transport used
- Use of i-SITEs
- Environmental and safety aspects of a trip to New Zealand
- Use of social media pre, during and post a trip to New
Zealand
- Brand awareness
- Demographics