Quality Strategy

Quality is a non-negotiable for international visitors

Travellers and trade around the world are raising their standards. High and consistent quality is no longer an option, it is a necessity. New Zealand needs to assure the international industry of the high standards of our tourism industry.

In 2005, Tourism New Zealand launched its Quality Strategy, designed to give consumers and trade confidence in New Zealand’s reputation as a high-quality holiday destination.

It’s also a requirement of the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010 that Tourism New Zealand give effect to its objectives, and having quality visitor experiences is a key outcome of the Strategy, for both the government and the New Zealand tourism industry.

To identify operators performing at a requisite level of quality, it is necessary to have an assessment framework. Quality accreditation is a sign to visitors and the industry world wide of a reputable and committed tourism operator that is serious about the international tourism market.

There are a number of criteria that Tourism New Zealand considers to quantify the independence and robustness of a third party accreditation provider’s assessment process, including wide industry endorsement. At present, only Qualmark meets that criteria.

Visitor satisfaction and the issue of quality are important issues for the tourism industry and for marketing New Zealand offshore. Tourism New Zealand needs to be confident that the operators who represent our tourism industry operate at a level of quality that meets or exceeds the expectations of our visitors and trade.

The major change as a result of the strategy is just around the corner.

From January 2007, New Zealand operators wanting to participate in a number of Tourism New Zealand on or offshore tradeshows and training events will be required to be quality accredited, for example Qualmark licensed. These events include:

- Kiwi Links

- Mega Famils & Training Days (TNZ’s Training Days)

- Tradeshows (when participating with Tourism New Zealand e.g. ITB, WTM, ITF, CITM)

- 100% Pure Enterprise Programme

- Frontliner Training Missions

In relation to the new onshore Mega Famils & Training Days: all operators participating in training events, whether on or offshore, will be required to be quality-accredited.

Travel Trade Famils will continue to be facilitated by RTOs and operator selection is at the discretion of RTOs. Tourism New Zealand will encourage the use of quality-accredited product where possible.

Tourism New Zealand research has identified what the ideal visitor to New Zealand is looking for and much of it focuses around the quality of experience. These people know what they want and expect good service and good facilities as part of their trip.

Recent visitor satisfaction research conducted by Tourism New Zealand showed that visitors that use Qualmark licensed facilities are more satisfied than those who do not.

Why is Tourism New Zealand interested in only taking quality accredited operators to tradeshows or trade events?

We need to ensure that the quality standard of services and activities that we represent to consumers and trade alike is top-notch. Additionally, we need to give consumers and trade reassurance that the operators we represent have been independently assessed.

It is not feasible for every wholesaler and retailer to personally visit every New Zealand operator they deal with. Quality accreditation enables trade offshore to identify businesses that demonstrate they adhere to principles of quality. They can then recommend a product or service confidently to their customers, even if they don’t have first hand knowledge of it. Additionally, it provides significant peace of mind when booking from afar, as visitors know the business has complied with all legal requirements.

Tourism New Zealand is focused on representing businesses that are able to demonstrate that they adhere to principles of quality, but by no means are non accredited operators excluded from all of our activities.

All New Zealand-based tourism business, regardless of their ability to demonstrate that they adhere to principles of quality or not are eligible to list on www.newzealand.com, list in the Explore New Zealand book, and participate in trade and media famils, for example.

What are other National Tourism Organisations doing around quality-accreditation?

It is common for other National Tourism Organisations not to work with operators who are not independently assessed through some quality system. For example, Visit Britain only markets quality-assessed accommodation through all of its activities.

South Africa, which is hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup, will only give official FIFA accommodation status to accommodation providers who have been certified by the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa. Additionally, the South African Government will only make use of graded accommodation.

In the province of Québec, all tourist accommodation establishments must obtain an official classification certificate from the Québec Tourism Industry Corporation.

If you have any questions about the Quality Strategy, please email sallyk@tnz.govt.nz