Media Release

31 August 2011

95% of visitors would recommend Hawke’s Bay

Today, Hawke’s Bay Tourism presented the results summary of their Hawke’s Bay Visitor Research Project to over 60 local tourism businesses at the Napier War Memorial Conference Centre and revealed that 95% of visitors would recommend Hawke’s Bay as a place to visit.

Key findings include:

Over 95% of International and Domestic visitors would recommend Hawke’s Bay to others.
Over 90% of International and Domestic visitors would consider visiting Hawke’s Bay again.

The average domestic visitor to Hawke’s Bay stays for 4.5 nights and spends $392
The average International visitor to Hawke’s Bay stays 7 nights and spends $490

The results are the conclusion of a research project led by Hawke’s Bay Tourism in conjunction with The New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI) within Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Managed by Dr. Simon Milne from AUT, the visitor research study commenced on the 1st August 2010 and finished on the 8th May 2011.

During that time over 80 regional tourism businesses including i-SITES were involved as data collection points. Visitor’s details were obtained and an online survey about their experience to Hawke’s Bay was sent to them to complete. The research represents a sample size of over 1500 individuals.

The focus of the research was to ascertain how visitors search for information, where they come from, why they visit, satisfaction levels with their overall visit and Hawke’s Bay tourism products and spending patterns.

Hawke’s Bay’s ‘most appealing attributes’ were listed as beautiful landscapes and scenery, good climate, wine and food and Art Deco.

Dr. Simon Milne urged that whilst satisfaction levels were high, Hawke’s Bay cannot rest on its laurels. ‘There is always room for improvement and experience, satisfaction and spend could be increased’ he said.

Hawke’s Bay Tourism Chairman George Hickton said ‘We are exploring product development opportunities to further enhance the visitor experience. We want to get visitors here, staying for longer and spending more.” Hickton went on to add that whilst Jan, Feb and March were the regions highest occupancy months, one of Hawke’s Bay Tourism’s key objectives was to extend demand into the shoulder seasons.

ends

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