Another boost for New Zealand’s international reputation

Minister of Tourism Mark Burton is today welcoming the news that New Zealand has been voted the UK’s favourite holiday destination—three times in a row.

The readers of Wanderlust, one of the United Kingdom’s premiere travel publications, have consistently named New Zealand as their top travel destination since 1999, when the bi-annual survey began.

Mark Burton says that even better news is New Zealand’s near perfect satisfaction rate of 97.4 percent.

“New Zealand’s tourism operators are clearly focusing more and more on quality—a key component in securing a sustainable, long-term future for the industry. The sector has recently seen its 1000th business sign up to Qualmark, the industry’s official quality assurance system.

“This award is yet another confirmation that the tourism sector is on the right track. Only last month, the Harris Poll, a long running and respected United States public opinion survey, showed that New Zealand has jumped six places to number seven as the country where American visitors would most like to go on holiday—the most significant gain in the poll.

“In addition, four of New Zealand’s luxury lodges have just been named by the authoritative Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report for 2003 on the top ten list of International Resort Hideaways. It is indeed an honour for the sector to have captured 40 percent of such a prestigious category.

“The sector as a whole continues to perform at a high level, with the Tourism Research Council’s latest forecasts showing that visitor yield is increasing at a rate nearly double that of visitor numbers.

“These reports, among others, illustrate the success of this government’s partnership with the industry, which is attracting high value, high yield international visitors.

“Our international reputation as a desirable, year-round destination is growing by the day, and this Wanderlust award will certainly enhance our image even further. I congratulate the entire tourism sector for their outstanding work.”

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