Our biggest market at a six-year low
Australia is still far and away the leading holiday destination for New Zealanders, although the proportion of Kiwis who want to spend a holiday in Oz in the next two years has declined to its lowest point since 2007, Roy Morgan Research shows.
Over 40% of New Zealanders would like to visit Australia in the next two years—more than double the number of those who choose second-placed USA. Rounding out the top ten are three regional island getaways and five European countries.
They say half the fun is in the planning (deciding on a destination, researching activities and figuring out how to get there) and Roy Morgan’s 2012 research reveals that almost 60% of Kiwis usually book and arrange all their own travel. Of the top ten destinations, travellers to the Cook Islands are the most likely to arrange it all themselves (and to want to do ‘as little as possible’ when they get there!), while people who are ‘always very active’ on holidays are 18% more likely than average to choose Fiji.
Only around one in four New Zealanders either want a holiday where everything is organised for them (27%) or ‘usually leave holiday arrangements to someone else’ (24%).
Different destinations clearly cater more to these attitudes: 37% of US-bound Kiwis may want the trip organised for them—an extra third on the population average—while 30% of those eyeing France are happy to leave les arrangements to someone else.
Kiwis who want everything organised for them are also 27% more likely than the general population to want to visit Greece or Fiji.
Almost three in four people destined for Greece or Cook Islands like to experience the local culture on holiday—a 25% higher likelihood than average.
Pip Elliott, general manager, Roy Morgan Research NZ, says, “It is no surprise that Australia, due to its proximity and relatively low costs, is the overseas destination New Zealanders are most likely to visit.
“However nearby island holidays in Cook Islands, Hawaii and Fiji seem to satisfy a lot of different holiday attitudes: people who say they prefer to be very active or do nothing are each more likely than average to visit these destinations.
“Our research gives us insights into not only where people want to go on holidays, but how they plan to book and arrange the trip and what they’ll want to do when they get there.”
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