Forget the man drought, New Zealand is facing a mate drought

Forget the man drought, New Zealand is facing a mate drought

Intrepid Travel’s new ‘Mate Metre’ research celebrates 25 years of mateship

21 November 2014 - New research released today reveals Kiwis admit they’re in the market for more mates – with more than 1 in 3 (34%) of us having fewer friends than we’d like.

The ‘Mate Metre’ research, from leading adventure travel company Intrepid Travel, reveals that 46% of us claim to have one to three close friends, despite almost half of us (44%) agreeing the ideal number of close friends to have is four to six.

The Intrepid Mate Metre was commissioned in celebration of Intrepid’s 25th anniversary, during which time the Australian-owned company has helped forge thousands of lifelong friendships through small group tours.

The research shows more than one in ten (12%) of us are indeed looking to expand our social circles – confessing we’re unsatisfied or only slightly satisfied with the number of close mates we have overall.

Resonating with many Kiwis across the country, Intrepid’s Mate Metre found well over half (62%) of us offer good reasons for why we’ve lost friends over time, such as drifting apart from mates as we get older, having different lives and priorities and finding it harder to make new friends as time goes on.

However, in good news for Kiwi mate seekers, the Mate Metre also revealed more than 1.02 million Kiwis have forged their closest friendships while travelling and living overseas.

This was in fact the case for founders of Intrepid Travel, Aussie mates Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester, whose successful business was born from an adventure of two mates 25 years ago. In 1989, the pair modified an ex-council truck and crammed it with friends as they took off on an epic road trip through Africa, discovering that many others also enjoyed making and reconnecting with friends during travel.

The pals then launched Intrepid Travel to cater to this demand, and now send over 100,000 travellers around the globe each year, offering more than 800 different itineraries across Europe, Asia, Africa, The Americas, The Middle East, Australasia and Antarctica.

Mr Manchester said: “Over the past 25 years, Intrepid has helped thousands of people connect or reconnect with new and old friends through our small group tours. With the Mate Metre showing over half of Aussies would like to widen their friendship circles, we’re proud to be helping people travel the world while making long-lasting and real connections along the way.

“Over and above the educational, cultural and inspirational experiences we have while travelling, we believe it’s the people we share these memories with that make them so unforgettable. Travel is undoubtedly a powerful way to form new friendships and reconnect with old friends.”

To help combat the mate drought, Intrepid Travel is giving Kiwis the chance to ‘take a friend or make a friend’ on a $20,000 Intrepid Travel adventure, which includes a Travelex card loaded with $5,000 and $10,000 worth of Intrepid Travel trips, along with $5,000 of airfares. The winner will be able to choose to ‘take a friend’ and split the winnings among them, or ‘make a friend,’ picking up a travel buddy on the way. Kiwis can enter the competition by visiting www.intrepidtravel.com/about/friendships and will automatically receive a 10% off voucher for their next Intrepid trip.

The research was conducted by research house Perceptive during June 2014, and was carried out among a sample size of 1,010 Kiwis.

About Intrepid Travel
Intrepid Travel is one of the world's leading small group adventure tour operators. It offers authentic and fun experiences that give travellers the chance to get under the skin of the places they visit, with more than 1,000 itineraries to more than 100 countries worldwide. Intrepid Travel trips are designed to go off the beaten track, meet the locals and travel in an unconventional way, joining locals on their transport, in their markets and even in their homes.

For more information, please visit: www.intrepidtravel.com

ENDS

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