“Overall, this research shows the current pool of people in our key markets who are actively considering visiting New Zealand has reduced by about 14% since COVID-19. Cost of living pressures, strong competition from other destinations and readiness to travel post pandemic have contributed to this decline. However, the pool is showing signs of recovery, with over 131 million active considers in key markets as of January this year.

“Tourism New Zealand still has a big job ahead to get more people to consider New Zealand as a holiday destination, but we are in a good position to do this. Our global campaign continues to drive high levels of preference and we have activity launching in the coming months in Australia to drive winter bookings and in China and Japan to grow desire for destination New Zealand.

“The USA is a major opportunity for New Zealand to drive arrivals and remains our second largest holiday visitor market. Increased airline connectivity and a strong US dollar make New Zealand an appealing destination. Likewise, markets like China, India and Canada have sizeable pools of consumers who we know are ready to book.

“The research shows some key knowledge gaps may be holding people back from booking. These include how long it takes to travel to New Zealand, ease of travel around New Zealand and what the weather is like here. Our future activity will address these to encourage visitation.

“We’re also seeing that there is strong potential to drive bookings in our off-peak seasons, spring and autumn. Growing off peak visitation will help industry to operate sustainably year-round and deliver value for New Zealanders,” concludes Mr de Monchy.

Conducting regular consumer research guides Tourism New Zealand’s work to attract visitors from our key international markets. The information is also shared with tourism operators to help them understand the needs and desires of their customers and grow their businesses.

Notes

Tourism New Zealand defines Active Considerers as those who are seriously considering visiting New Zealand in the next three years and have budget to travel here. Active considerers are between 18-74 years old.

The half-yearly reports provide the latest motivations, barriers and perceptions among Active Considerers towards travelling to New Zealand, unique to each market. Markets include Australia(opens in new window), UK, Germany(opens in new window), North America(opens in new window), China, Japan(opens in new window), India, Singapore and South Korea(opens in new window).