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GISBORNE has been left out of the potential travel plans of three-quarters of a million Aucklanders because they have access to cheap flights to Australia and Pacific islands, a new survey suggests.
An independent survey of more than 10,000 New Zealanders, conducted on behalf of the RV Super Centre, New Zealand’s largest seller of motorhomes, showed that while 82 percent of people surveyed in Hawke’s Bay and 75 percent of people in Bay of Plenty said they had visited Gisborne at least once, nationally only 54 percent of people had visited Gisborne — compared to 88 percent having visited Rotorua. Only 50 percent of Aucklanders had visited this region, but 94 percent had been to Rotorua.
Tourism Eastland chief executive Stuart Perry says that shows the need for a double-pronged approach to marketing the region.
“The survey shows that cost is a big influence, something we already knew, but it’s a major factor in our key markets — so there is an opportunity to offer ‘budget destination’ packages as well as the high-end opportunities.
“Most New Zealanders seem to have a view that domestic travel is expensive but it is more a case of so many Pacific and Australian destinations offering incredibly cheap deals.
“The return of AirAsiaX and the $99 airfare deals to the Gold Coast from Auckland make it very hard for regional destinations to compete, and of course these big destinations throw huge sums of money at marketing through the budget airlines.
“The survey shows that over 750,000 Aucklanders have never been to Gisborne or Out East and naturally, because New Zealanders are amongst the savviest travellers in the world, they are tempted to take a discounted exotic tour off-shore.
“However, in saying that, it means we should also focus on the markets nearby — Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty — that are close enough for weekend getaways, and they have a kindred spirit with the people Out East. These are clearly shown in the survey to be a great opportunity for growth, as a high percentage have been here before and repeat tourism is high yield for Eastland.
“Our key markets also have a great regard for domestic destinations and although they see domestic travel as expensive, they also recognise that the ‘100 percent Pure’ destination is what they prefer.”
South Islanders appear to be the least likely to have visited this region, with just 28 percent of Southlanders and 35 percent of people surveyed in Otago saying they had visited Gisborne.
Mr Perry said another interesting survey result was that many of the region’s key markets had more than 20 percent of people planning to buy a motorhome or caravan in the next 10 years.
“That’s the sort of traveller we see a lot of — doing the ‘rite of passage’ or ‘bucket list’ journey around the East Cape.
“With Gisborne having recently joined the ‘RV Friendly Cities’, it’s valuable to know what motivates the travellers and where our opportunities lie.
“Motorhomes are a valuable resource in terms of visitor growth and while they spend less per day, the length of stay is considerably longer.
“Finally it is encouraging that in spite of so many New Zealanders having spent more time overseas on long holidays, more than 60 percent want to see more of the country, and more of New Zealand is what you get Out East.”
A spokeswoman for the RV Super Centre said Aucklanders were least likely to have chosen domestic travel over international (14 percent travelling domestically, compared to 31 percent travelling internationally).
In fact, more Aucklanders had been to Sydney than Queenstown and more Southlanders had been to Melbourne and the Gold Coast than to popular North Island destinations such as Bay of Islands or Coromandel.”