Survey points to Labour weekend opportunity for value-based offers

We get around, but not as much as we want to – according to the Fly Buys/ Colmar Brunton Mood of the New Zealand Traveller, a new quarterly survey released by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) and launched today by the Prime Minister at the Tourism Leaders Symposium in Wellington.

The survey found that over 2.6 million Kiwis spent at least one night away from home for leisure in the past six months, and 80% said they’d spend more nights away if they could (money was their biggest barrier). It also found that 22% of Kiwis were still considering their options for Labour weekend.

Fly Buys CEO Andy Symons said tourism operators should look at Labour Weekend as an opportunity to offer a deal.

“If you’ve still got capacity for Labour Weekend there’s a definite opportunity there – almost a fifth of Kiwis are open to an offer, and 80 percent say money is the biggest brake on their travel. That suggests that targeted value-based offers might be the biggest opportunity this Labour Weekend – maybe including partial use of loyalty points or value-based packages with other operators,” he said.

The Fly Buys/Colmar Brunton Mood of the New Zealand Traveller surveys 1000 New Zealanders aged 18 and over. The New Zealanders interviewed were sourced from Colmar Brunton’s Fly Buys panel. The survey will be repeated each quarter. The survey aims to give tourism operators an insight into New Zealanders’ motivations for travel, what encourages them to travel and prevents them from travelling more.

The survey showed that the internet continues to grow as a planning tool for travellers, with 35% saying they planned their trip online.

Harry Pappafloratos, Chief Executive Officer of Colmar Brunton, said he hoped the insights in the survey would help tourism operators better serve the domestic market

“At Colmar Brunton we define our purpose as helping businesses understand their customer’s needs and desires to be able to deliver outstanding customer experiences. With about 15 million domestic trips for personal or leisure purposes there are lots of opportunities to create unique travel experiences for New Zealanders,” he said.

TIA Chief Executive Tim Cossar said the Fly Buys/ Colmar Brunton Mood of the New Zealand Traveller survey will be a valuable new source of information for tourism operators.

“TIA and its members are seeking better consumer information and this survey will assist us with up-to-date, topical and relevant information. It is a first for New Zealand and we are delighted that Fly Buys and Colmar Brunton agreed to support TIA in our efforts to grow New Zealand tourism and increase its contribution to the economy.”

Further findings

The Fly Buys/ Colmar Brunton Mood of the New Zealand Traveller Survey found that, of the 2.6 million New Zealanders who travelled in the past six months:

2% were lucky in love and found a romantic partner (46,000 New Zealanders)
6% travelled to get away from someone (129,000 New Zealanders)
5% did something they never expected on their trip (100,000 New Zealanders) – this ranged from sleeping in the street to taking a helicopter flight over a glacier
25% couldn’t escape work while they were away and kept in touch with the office (662,000 New Zealanders)

Favourite international destinations
1. Australia; 2. USA; 3. United Kingdom; 4. Fiji; 5. Thailand.

Favourite New Zealand destinations
1. Wellington; 2. Auckland; 3. Christchurch; 4. Queenstown; 5. Nelson.