Coach Travel New Zealand

Tourism in New Zealand is the country's biggest 'export' earner with two million tourists visiting per year. New Zealand is marketed as a "clean, green" adventure playground, with typical destinations being nature areas such as Milford Sound and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, while activities such as bungee jumping or whale watching exemplify typical tourist attractions.

The vast majority of tourist arrivals in New Zealand come through Auckland Airport which handled over eleven million passengers in 2004. Popular destinations include Rotorua, Waitomo Caves, Milford Sound and Queenstown. Many tourists travel large distances through the country during their stays, typically using coach lines or hire cars.

International travel

Overview

The country is internationally seen as a top holiday destination, shown by receiving awards like being voted most favourite destination by the readers of the Condé Nast Traveler magazine (specialising in luxury travels) in 2008, though it slipped to second place in 2009, and was also named the best overseas holiday destination in a 2007 The Daily Telegraph poll, the United Kingdom's largest such poll. Since the start of a 2000 advertising campaign by Tourism New Zealand, there has been a 61% increase in the number of Britons coming to New Zealand.

Tourism New Zealand, the country's official tourism agency, is actively promoting the country as a destination worldwide. Recent activities include a NZ$7 million campaign in China, concentrating on Shanghai, and cooperating to produce a New Zealand tourism layer for Google Earth, the first country to receive such a treatment.

Environmental impacts

Public concern over the environmental impacts of air travel may threaten tourism growth in New Zealand, as almost all tourists fly long distances to reach New Zealand. However, Ministry of Tourism data predicts a four per cent annual growth in tourist numbers in New Zealand, with 3.2 million tourists annually to be reached in 2014.

It is however unclear how New Zealand's carbon-neutral policy will affect future tourism - with some researchers arguing that the carbon emissions of tourism are much higher than generally considered, that their offsetting or mitigation will be very difficult, and that this poses a serious threat to the country's major source of foreign income.

Domestic travel

Periodic campaigns are also directed at New Zealanders, urging them to travel within New Zealand instead of overseas, due to a perception by the tourism industry that too many New Zealanders are travelling to Australia or other countries instead of domestically. Perhaps the best known slogan is "Don't leave town until you've seen the country". However, due to lack of competition, fares for some domestic flights can be higher than those for flights to, for example, Australia.

Domestic tourism was worth NZ$7.6 billion (including transport costs) in the year ending March 2007, a growth of 9.1 per cent on the year before. Domestic tourism itself was growing by 1 to 1.5 per cent a year in the recent years, as noted by the Ministry of Tourism.

Tourist activities

See also: Tramping in New Zealand and Camping in New Zealand

Popular tourist activities in New Zealand include sightseeing, adventure tourism, tramping (hiking) and camping. To support active travel, New Zealand has created numerous walking and hiking paths (often created and maintained by the DOC), some of which, like the Milford Track, have huge international recognition. There is also a walking route the length of the country, Te Araroa Trail, which is in the process of being finished as of the late 2000s, and a proposed New Zealand Cycleway.

Direct flights from Australia to Queenstown have also boosted overseas winter tourism. Ecotourism is also become an increasing segment of the tourism market, and both tourism spends and trip duration are relatively high, due to the remote location of the country attracting few short-trip visitors.

See also

• Tourism New Zealand, official tourism agency
• Tolkien tourism, on the effects of the Lord of the Rings movies

References

1. ^ Corporate Overview (from the Tourism New Zealand corporate website. Retrieved 2007-09-30)
2. ^ Travellers name NZ second-best destination - The New Zealand Herald , Friday 04 September 2009
3. ^ UK readers vote NZ best holiday destination - The New Zealand Herald, Saturday 01 December 2007
4. ^ $7m more to sell NZ to China - The New Zealand Herald , Thursday 10 May 2007
5. ^ NZ's 100% Pure and Google Earth in world first - New Zealand Herald , Thursday 12 April 2007
6. ^ NZ tourism strikes long-haul snag - The New Zealand Herald , Monday 03 September 2007
7. ^ Carbon policy spells end of tourism bonanza - National Business Review , Thursday 03 January 2008
8. ^ ^{a b} Stay in NZ, urges tourism industry - The New Zealand Herald , Sunday 16 September 2007

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