Queensland beats Queenstown: where Kiwis dream of holidaying

Tuesday, 5 August 2014, 1:22 pm
Press Release: Roy Morgan Research

Queensland beats Queenstown: where Kiwis dream of holidaying

Recently we revealed that Melbourne topped the list of destinations where Australians would most like to take a holiday in the next two years (as well as being the place most actually took a holiday in the last 12 months). The latest findings from Roy Morgan Research show that New Zealanders also have Australia in their holiday sights, but with one key difference: the destination they’d most like to visit is Queensland…

That’s right: Queensland/Gold Coast/Brisbane topped the list among Kiwis aged 14+ when they were asked where they’d like to take a holiday in the next two years. Just over 22% of them (or 792,000 people) nominated the Sunshine State, ahead of Queenstown (18.7% or 671,000 people), Wellington (18.4%), Bay of Islands/Russell/Paihia/Kerikeri (17.0%) and the US (15.2%).

Top 10 destinations New Zealanders would like to visit in the next 2 years

Click for big version.
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (New Zealand), May 2013 – April 2014 (n = 11,848).Base: New Zealanders 14+. Places respondents would like to travel for at least one night (nett trip) in the next two years.

Three of the five overseas destinations to make it into New Zealanders’ Top 10 are Australian, with Victoria/Melbourne coming in seventh and New South Wales/Sydney close behind in ninth place.

And the most visited holiday spots are…

As with their Aussie counterparts, however, Kiwis’ holiday destination preferences don’t always align with where they actually end up.

In the 12 months to April 2014, Wellington was the top holiday destination visited by Kiwis (10.7%), followed by Central Auckland/Parnell (10.1%), Christchurch (8.3%), Tauranga/Mt Maunganui (7.7%) and Rotorua (7.3%). Only two overseas destinations (Queensland/Gold Coast/Brisbane and New South Wales/Sydney), made the cut.

Top 10 destinations New Zealanders visited on holiday in the last 12 months

Click for big version.
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (New Zealand), May 2013 – April 2014 n=11,848. Base: New Zealanders 14+. Places respondents have stayed for at least one night on their last trip in the last 12 months (nett trip).

As recently as 2009, Christchurch was New Zealanders’ most visited holiday destination, but has dropped to third place as a consequence of the devastating earthquakes that struck the city in 2010 and 2011.

Pip Elliott, General Manager, Roy Morgan Research NZ, says:

“To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, we don’t always get what we want, but Kiwis aren’t doing too badly when it comes to holiday destinations. Six of the ten destinations most visited by Kiwis in the last 12 months also feature in the top ten places they’d like to take a holiday of at least one night in the next two years.

“The main disparity between where we’d like to go and where we end up occurs with overseas destinations. While there are five overseas destinations in our top ten preferred places for a holiday, only two rate among our ten most visited holiday spots. The ease and affordability of domestic travel is a strong drawcard.

“The Christchurch earthquakes, particularly the last one, have hit the local tourism industry hard, and the city has been overtaken by Wellington as our most visited holiday destination. Wellington’s longstanding tourism slogan ‘Absolutely positively Wellington’ is clearly working.

“Tourism operators and travel agents keen to attract holidaymakers need to stay abreast of trends and changes not only to Kiwis’ destination intentions but also to their preferences and recent behaviour.”

Read this release in full on our website.

© Scoop Media

Roy Morgan Research

New Zealand's leading social and market research company

A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has over 70 years' experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers. Roy Morgan Research was set up in New Zealand in the 1990s and has been collecting information across a wide range of industries in New Zealand ever since. Roy Morgan currently has over 10 years of trended data on a geographically and demographically representative sample of over 12,000 New Zealanders aged 14+.

Contact Roy Morgan Research

• Website - www.roymorgan.com