Reported attractiveness of activities in two New Zealand regions

Tourists surveyed in northern and southern parts of New Zealand varied in the way they rated the attractiveness of different activities and attractions.

There were also significant differences in the travel and demographic characteristics of the visitors to the two regions. Another page documents the Differences between tourists in two New Zealand Regions

In summer 2004/05, we surveyed international and domestic visitors to two east coast areas of New Zealand to find out about their interest in ecocultural tourism products: (1) Banks Peninsula in the South Island (southern case study) and East Cape/ Te Urewera in the North Island (northern case study).

Map showing northern and southern case study areas

Map showing southern and northern case study areas

As part of this work visitors were asked how attractive they found each of the activities listed in the table below.

Their ratings were measured on a seven-point scale where 1 meant not at all attractive and 7 meant very attractive. Visitors tended to rate most of the items as either very attractive or very unattractive, with only to learn about native plants and animals showing any significant level of central tendency.

Percentage of group rating item as highly attractive (a 6 or a 7)

 

Northern sample

Southern sample

Domestic

n = 104

International

n = 182

Domestic

n = 59

International

n = 141

1. To enjoy natural landscapes

80

87

84

98

2. To experience Māori   culture

33

52

5

32

3. To visit museums

33

39

11

23

4. To view dolphins or whales

20

36

56

59

5. To buy authentic New Zealand souvenirs

15

27

2

19

6. To try a traditional Māori   feast (hangi)

34

54

17

27

7. To go horse trekking

28

22

16

6

8. To go white water rafting

41

52

20

26

9. To visit a Māori   meeting house (marae)

36

57

11

24

10. To go mountain biking

44

38

17

9

11. To go on a scenic boat cruise

33

45

54

61

12. To find out about native plants & animals

16

26

28

45

13. To go hiking

40

53

27

53

Nearly all respondents rated to enjoy natural landscapes very highly. Because this item was rated so similarly amongst all groups of tourists, it is not included in the analysis below.

There were regional differences in the way tourists rated the items and also clear differences between domestic and international tourists. Visitors in the north tended to rate cultural tourism experiences higher while respondents in the south rated the nature-based tourism experiences higher.

International tourists

In the northern area the highest scoring items (not counting item 1) for international tourists were:

These were also the only items where more than 50% of the sample rated the item as very attractive (a 6 or a 7)

In the southern area the items rated very attractive by more than 50% of international tourists were:

What is striking in this group is the much lower proportion who rated the Māori cultural attraction items highly (only 32%, 27% and 24% for items 2, 6 & 9 respectively) and the extremely low interest in horse trekking and mountain biking amongst this group (9% and 6%).

Domestic tourists

None of the attraction items were rated a 6 or a 7 by more than 50% of domestic tourists in the northern sample and only three were rated this way by more than 40% of the sample. These were:

Domestic visitors in the northern sample much less frequently rated the Māori attraction items (2, 6, & 9) highly than did their international counterparts. However, a third or more of domestic tourists in the north gave the Māori cultural items a 6 or a 7 and these items were not any less attractive to this group than most of the other items on the list.

In the south, three items were rated a 6 or a 7 by more than 50% of domestic tourists:

Southern domestic tourists rated the three Māori attraction items (2, 6 & 9) only 3.1, 3.0 and 2.5 respectively. Even lower ratings were given to Item 7: To go horse trekking (mean 2.4) and Item 5: To buy authentic New Zealand souvenirs (mean 1.8).

Conclusions

Overall these results suggest that visitors to each destination are quite different to each other. People surveyed in the south – both domestic and international – are more interested in native plants and animals, in viewing whales and dolphins, and in taking a boat cruise and slightly more interested in hiking. They are, however, less interested in Māori culture, and less interested in mountain biking, horse trekking and white water rafting than those in the northern sample.

To some extent this is explained by the over 50’s  being less interested in physically strenuous adventure activities such as rafting and mountain biking than their younger counterparts. Despite this, a comparison across similar age groups also indicates significant differences.

It goes without saying that tourists choose to go to a certain area because that area is most likely to satisfy their interests. However, from other research we know that most international tourists travel throughout the country, which makes this regional effect more difficult to explain.

It is possible that these preferences are driven as much by what is available in the area and what the area is known for as what preferences tourists have. The question is, then, how much could these patterns change if new products come onto the local market?  Overall, these issues indicate that the relationship between demand and supply is relatively complex and dependent on a range of influences, many of which we do not fully understand as yet.

Perhaps at this stage it is most important for new businesses and marketing bodies to be aware of these differences when planning for marketing and business development activities and to find out what sorts of preferences exist for visitors in one’s own region.

 

Reference as: Horn, C. 2006: Reported attractiveness of activities in two New Zealand regions

Comments and feedback on this Growing Regional Māori Tourism site are welcomed and should be directed to Chrys Horn ( Email Send email to Chrys Horn ).


MĀori tourism

Māori tourism Home