Having been in the tourism business for nearly 10 years, I believe that I have a handle on what makes New Zealand such a special and memorable holiday destination.
Tourism NZ has very successfully marketed the 100% Pure NZ brand for many years – and it has worked. NZ is associated with the Clean Green image. Lord of the Rings has also boosted this with its Middle Earth scenery and the Hollywood profile of director Peter Jackson.
At the moment there is quite a vigorous debate about just how clean and green we are – with a proposal to mine native forest parks for gold and other minerals. NZ is definitely cleaner and greener than most countries – but we do have issues with water purity, over-fishing, CO2 emissions, waste disposal, air pollution, use of agricultural chemicals and so on, as do other developed nations.
So – at present there is widespread hand wringing about whether we can afford to sacrifice our Eco Tourism brand for the short-term spoils of mining. That debate goes on and in my usual ambivalent fashion, I haven’t reached a firm opinion yet.
However, when I ask my clients what it is that they enjoyed about NZ – they almost universally say: the friendliness of the people, fantastic food and wine … and sure, beautiful scenery. So I think that Tourism NZ is missing out on a significant sector of the market – food and wine tourism. Sure, promote the magnificent fiords, pristine beaches, snow capped mountains yadda yadda, but why not mention that we have fantastic fresh seafood, lamb, beef, venison, fruit and vegetables, world-famous wines and a nation of friendly people.
I have done a certain amount of lobbying in my limited capacity – but generally get a lukewarm response. This is despite the fact that wine and food tourists – stay longer, spend more money and have higher levels of satisfaction with their NZ vacation, than all other tourist groups. Go figure …
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