Tourism New Zealand has called a summit following concerns that some Chinese holiday visitors to New Zealand are returning…
Tourism New Zealand has called a summit following concerns that some Chinese holiday visitors to New Zealand are returning home dissatisfied.
Speaking at the Inbound Tour Operators conference in Nelson, Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton says while feedback from most visitors to New Zealand was extremely positive, there were concerns about the low level of satisfaction from Chinese visitors.
Our research shows that 95% of visitors to New Zealand are satisfied or more than satisfied with their visit to New Zealand, but inquiries within the China market show that a lot less of our Chinese visitors are happy.
Mr Hickton says many of the trips from China were being put together for as low as $35 US per day. Operators picked up their profit from shopping commissions; visitors stayed in low-quality accommodation and often did not get to experience any tourism activity.
It is not surprising that these visitors are dissatisfied. Some of them are being put in accommodation without windows, prevented from visiting shops of their choice and only allowed to peer over a fence at geysers.
The summit, organised by Tourism New Zealand, will be held in Shanghai in August and will include members of New Zealand`s Inbound Tour Operators Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NZ Immigration, Ministry of Tourism, Airlines and Chinese tour operators.
The purpose of the summit will be to evaluate the issue and look at what opportunities already exist to start to improve the situation.
Mr Hickton says through additional government funding, Tourism New Zealand and the New Zealand Immigration Service have been involved in a three-year travel industry training programme designed to substantially improve planning and selling knowledge but more needed to be done to control these low value trips to New Zealand.
These issues often occur in new markets, but it is important that we address the problems before the Chinese market gets any bigger.
Last year New Zealand welcomed 84,000 Chinese visitors – with over 60% arriving for holiday purposes, but with the Chinese economy growing exponentially, this number is expected to increase.
Mr Hickton says the issues are not unique to New Zealand as many other countries were facing similar problems from the China market.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
