Insights team supporting research driven decision making in Tourism New Zealand

WELLINGTON - In recent months, Tourism New Zealand has completed a number of face-to-face meetings and conducted surveys with the industry. The General Manager in Marketing Communications, Justin Watson, said, "Each time, your feedback has been that you want to see more of the research that we use to shape our strategy and plans.
"As a result we have re-structured the way we present research on our website which should make the information more accessible to everyone. You can access the research section here.
"In this section of the website you will find core pieces of our research including the annual Visitor Experience Monitor (VEM) broken down by market. The VEM is only updated once a year but provides really valuable insights into what visitors think after their holiday in New Zealand. The VEM asks how satisfied international visitors are with different aspects of their New Zealand holiday, and is used to assess behavioural patterns pre, post and during travel within New Zealand. The research provides a benchmark for the New Zealand tourism industry from which to improve the experiences it offers visitors.
"We have also posted research reports as they relate to specific sectors and special interests - such as a golf tourism profile, a cycling tourism profile, a ski tourism profile and a report on what research into visitor behaviour can tell us about the impact of the work we are doing around The Hobbit.
"This section will be updated on a regular basis as research is completed and analysed so keep an eye on these pages. In particular, we will be posting new research findings as we develop our understanding of the new emerging markets of Indonesia, India and Latin America where we will be investing greater effort as part of our new three-year marketing strategy.
"As an example, we recently posted a report on Latin America with information presented on Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The report outlines arrivals, demographics, current visitor behaviour and choices. These reports will be used to guide our entry into the market and help inform decisions on where money is best invested.
"Over time you can expect to see more research on the emerging markets, and on the special interest sectors that will be targeted under the new special interest strategy.
"One of our most recent developments is the introduction of "infographics" - which provide the information we gather from a range of sources, and produce it in a pictorial form. The 'infographic' is essentially one big jpeg image so you can save it into any image editing programme, and use the image for your own presentations and purposes. We aim to update this graphic every six months.
"In addition, we regularly update our Market pages with information gathered from the International Visitor Survey and the monthly International Travel and Migrations statistics.
"All of this information is made available thanks to our Insights team based in the Auckland office. The team work closely with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Statistics New Zealand to ensure the information presented is accurate and comes from robust sources."

Sourced: TravelDailyNews