A lot has been said about the importance of Asia to tourism in New Zealand today and into the next decade. I’ve noticed, as a sector, we’re good at talking about it, but, how much is being done to ensure we get a share of this growing market?
The future for Asia is extra-ordinary. China is expected to be the largest economy in the world between 2020 and 2025; Australian experts believe China arrivals will more than double to over 1M, making it as important as NZ for Australia, by 2015. The UNWTO thinks that between 1995 and 2020 Asia will have gone from 15% to 25% of global tourism movements. I could go on as there are plenty of statistics about Asia that all paint more or less the same picture. Asia is the new centre-piece of world economics and wealth.
Tourism has a long history of growing on the back of new middle classes in Western markets, and there’s every reason to believe that strong outbound travel growth from Asia is a near certainty. How does New Zealand get its slice, and how do operators get their ‘unfair share’?
Firstly, we need much better direct air links. Great progress on this has been made with Air China Taipei – Auckland (over BNE), JetStar Singapore – Auckland, and Air Asia KL – Christchurch all happening in the first half of 2011. Hopefully there is more to follow – but it’s a great start.
Tourism New Zealand’s Active Considerer Research has shown our brand is strong and the desire to visit New Zealand is high across priority markets in Asia. We’re confident that Asian travel styles will migrate quickly from group to increasingly independent but there will be quality challenges along the way.
We are justifiably proud of our visitor satisfaction. Look a little deeper and Western long haul visitors rate us consistently higher at 9.1* (of 10.0), while Eastern visitor satisfaction is consistently less at 8.5, with food and beverage a low 7.7*. Price was also a greater issue for Eastern visitors for accommodation, food and transport options. Of course there are plenty of explanations – but they’re just that, explanations. If we want to secure this growing market we have to do better for Asian visitors across accommodation, food and beverage, and transport sectors in particular.
Where to start? First of all, I am of the firm opinion that by taking some control, we can make decisions that shape the future rather than simply sitting back and seeing what happens. There is no other way.
This means, taking immediate steps to better understand the Asian visitor – their wants, needs, expectations and aspirations. Be prepared for a long list of ideas. They’ll include ideas for language, accommodation, safety, cuisine, and hospitality. Tourism industry associates can also link into Tourism New Zealand’s off-shore expertise to learn more about future visitors and to visit the region of interest independently. KiwiLink Japan & Korea is in March 2011.
Finally, prioritising and putting in place actions that result in better meeting Asian visitor needs will help us to all secure an ‘unfair share’ of this new wealth.
Footnote:
As well as Tourism New Zealand’s Active Considerer research which includes copies of research TNZ has done to better understand the needs of Asians actively thinking about visiting New Zealand, you may also want to check out Tourism Queensland and its outline of some useful etiquette tips.
Great post Kevin,
It certainly looks as though the Asian bloc of countries might pick up the global slack as Americans and Europeans stay a little closer to home with their softening currencies.
I was speaking at an NZCTA conference in Auckland last Friday, and in the end of the panel exchange we spoke about NZ Inc. While the current focus seems to be on the trade and business faces of New Zealand, they are, in the eyes of many Chinese consumers at least, tied up with the values of New Zealand as a destination as well.
How do we as a country leverage our clean, green, milk producing image but also start to embed friendly, innovative, fun and utterly unique as well?
I think the reasons behind your lower satisfaction number is twofold. Certainly, NZ needs to step up its game in terms of cultural understanding to make sure our interactions are as compelling, interactive and engaging to a Chinese national as they are to an Canadian.
Secondly, you’ve got a comms gap in China. The brand we portray is not yet differentiated in the China context. Other nations have noticed the growing opportunity Chinese international tourism will afford and they push uniques that stand out in Chinese minds. France, despite the Olympics bungle, stands out for class and heritage, America for business and opportunity and their monuments to that.
New Zealand is green, but so is Mongolia; New Zealand is beautiful, but unfortunately so are many other places. New Zealand is a wonderful place, but we need to express a way in which we uniquely stand out in Chinese. It’s a big ask, but certainly not an impossibility.
Satisfaction measures not only how good the experience was, but also how well it matched the expectation our brand has established before they came.