24 March 2006

MEDIA RELEASE

Regions of New Zealand Really Satisfy

Visitors to New Zealand’s regions are highly satisfied with their experiences, according to new research announced today.

When asked to rank their overall satisfaction with their experiences, most responses to the new Regional Visitor Monitor (RVM) showed a high level of satisfaction with their visits to New Zealand’s regions.

The RVM is unique for two reasons: it is the first large scale measurement of domestic visitor satisfaction and, for the first time, satisfaction research of international travellers can be broken down by region. This will enable regions to understand how they are meeting the needs of both international and domestic travellers.

“With this new data, we are strengthening our understanding of the key component of our success – our customers,” says Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor.

The research is a partnership between the Ministry of Tourism, Tourism New Zealand and six Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs). The regions will receive detailed results for their areas and will be able to compare themselves with the national benchmarks. The Ministry will make the national benchmarks available on its www.trcnz.govt.nz website.

“This research is important at a number of levels,” says Mr O’Connor. “Firstly, the project generates vital new information on the tourism sector and, secondly, it reflects a significant partnership effort between different groups within the tourism industry.”

“As this project accumulates more data over time, its value will become increasingly apparent and I anticipate more RTOs will join the survey,” Mr O’Connor added.

“While we only have data from one quarter at this stage, the research is clearly showing a very high level of satisfaction with experiences in all regions, a great reflection on the quality of what New Zealand has to offer visitors, regardless of what part of the country they are in.” says Mr O’Connor.

Currently the participating RTOs are: Tourism Auckland, Destination Rotorua, Positively Wellington Tourism, Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing, Tourism Dunedin and Destination Queenstown.

The researchers spoke to nearly 1000 travellers in the December quarter of 2005 within the participating regions. The survey is ongoing, and will produce quarterly releases from here on.

ENDS

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