Bay travellers opt for adventure vibe

Cyclists take advantage of the warm weather to cruise the Rotary Pathway along Awatoto.

Hawke's Bay travellers are more adventurous than other Kiwis because of the region they are leaving, a local travel agent says.

Results from a House of Travel survey of 3000 House of Travel Facebook followers found 22 per cent of Hawke's Bay respondents chose "be adventurous" as their "travel vibe of choice", with the national average at 18 per cent.

Hastings House of Travel owner Jenny Nilsson said she had noticed more people were choosing active and adventurous holidays.

"We live in a great region that has a lot on offer ... There are opportunities here that open up in international travel."

Ms Nilsson said Hawke's Bay's activities like the cycle trails helped ease people out of their comfort zones, so before they knew it "they're cycling in the south of France".

Even traditional travel experiences were being given an adventurous twist.

"Cruising" was still very popular, but there had been a swing to the "adventure cruise" which involved more active pursuits like walking or kayaking rather than the normal cruise experience.

Nationally, the options of "be adventurous", "explore and learn", "spending time with family" were the top three showing a shift towards holidays which offer more than just a break.

More Hawke's Bay respondents chose to spend time with family on their holidays, with 25 per cent choosing this option compared to the national average of 23 per cent.

House of Travel commercial director Brent Thomas said the overall results reflected a shift in motivations for travel.

"Traditionally, Kiwis have travelled for rest and relaxation - to have a bit of a break from the day-to-day grind."

However, only 7 per cent of those surveyed voted "flop and drop" as their preferred choice in holiday, he said.

Mr Thomas said this decrease could be because of a move toward preferring trips where people explore and learn for their "main" annual holiday with a shorter holiday almost become taken for granted.

He said it was likely Kiwis would start considering destinations in South East Asia for their four or five-day recharge trips, along with destinations they had visited before such as Australia or Fiji.

"This is off the back of new direct flights being introduced to the New Zealand market, 2016 is an exciting time for Kiwi travel."