Friendliness expected and found by Tourists
Data released today shows that along with the quality of New Zealand’s scenery, international visitors to New Zealand
have very high expectations around the friendliness of the people they will meet.
The Regional Visitor Monitor (RVM) confirms that a quality landscape is the highest expectation of an international
visitor to New Zealand. It also finds that meeting ‘friendly and welcoming’ people is a key expectation, particularly
amongst our US and German markets.
Ministry of Tourism Research Manager, Bruce Bassett, said that findings like this reinforce our understandings of why
New Zealand appeals as a quality visitor destination.
“We know our landscape is a key driver for the decision to travel New Zealand, but this research clearly demonstrates
that the welcome we extend to our visitors is an essential element of our offering. Manaakitanga (hospitality) is a core
value of the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015.”
“While all markets share many attributes, certain markets have different expectation levels. For North Americans (81%)
and Germans (77%), this research shows that friendliness is a key expectation. It is also very encouraging to see that
satisfaction levels around finding ‘friendly people’ are extremely high, with an average score of 8.3 out of 10.”
The November release of the RVM focuses on market differences in expectations, methods of generating awareness,
information sought prior to travel, sources of information used and factors influencing choice of destination.
The RVM is a partnership between the Ministry of Tourism, Tourism New Zealand and the Regional Tourism Organisations for
Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Canterbury, Queenstown and Dunedin.
ENDS