Tourism NZ warns of "lurching" too far towards Asia

Tourism NZ warns of "lurching" too far towards Asia
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Tourism New Zealand will continue to target niche sectors in Australia as chief executive Kevin Bowler described it as “unique” among its key markets.

Australia is the only country where it can “segment” the market, he said, with golf the latest product set for a marketing push.

Bowler said golf taps into one of Tourism NZ’s key strategies of attracting higher spending visitors.

The comments came as Bowler talked up the resurgence of traditional markets – largely a result of the Hobbit movies – and warned against "lurching" too far towards Asia.

“I look at Australia in almost a completely unique way because we can segment the market much more. Because of the affordable distance we can target niche areas,” he said.

“Ski holidays tend to be higher value and that is doing very well for us out of Australia and at the moment we are looking at extending that to golf. It’s a product that connects with luxury product in terms of accommodation and food and wine.”

Bowler added that Tourism NZ needs to better educate Australians about the range of products and experiences available, particularly to those who have already taken a trip across the Tasman.

Meanwhile, Bowler agreed that too many hopes are being pinned on growing arrivals from China as he revealed more investment may be channeled back into traditional markets.

It follows a sharp dip in arrivals from China following regulatory changes where Chinese authorities clamped down on shoddy tour operators. Room nights climbed however, suggesting NZ was attracting higher value visitors.

Asked if he thought China was being overplayed, Bowler said: “Yes, I do. It’s important to keep it in balance. We’re a little uncertain how China will grow in the next 12 months given the regulatory changes and how they are being enforced, so there’s a lot of question marks at the moment.

"I don’t think it’s going to grow anything like the 30% that we have seen in the past.”

Current growth rates are around 14%, he said.

Following a resurgence in arrivals from Europe and the US, Bowler funds may be re-allocated with more money thrown at traditional markets.

“We’re doing something a little bit different from Australia,” he explained. “We’re looking to grow our investment in Europe. We have seen tremendous results out of Europe and the US, so we’re quite focused on maintaining a strong portfolio of markets and not lurching towards Asia too hard.

“We’ve adjusted our thinking from a year ago where we pushed pretty hard into the Chinese market and other parts of Asia, but what we have seen as a result of the Middle Earth films is a really strong resurgence in NZ.

“We are going to be opportunistic and capitalise on the third Hobbit movie [which is released later this year] to the greatest degree we can.”

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