Freefalling Chinese visitors boost skydive numbers

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Freefalling Chinese visitors boost skydive numbers

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (March 11, 2013) – A big increase in visitors from the Far East helped Skydive Lake Wanaka achieve one of its best ever February figures with jumpers from China outnumbering all other nationalities for the first time in a single month.

Director, Jools Hall said the profile of customers over the Chinese New Year holiday period fitted the FIT model rather than the stereotypical view of guided coach tours, with many Chinese visitors touring New Zealand in small groups driving hire cars and campervans.

“All the predictions about the Chinese market came true for us in February. Even though we’ve put a lot of work into marketing to Asia I was amazed to see we’d had more jumpers from China than the UK. We need to watch how the trend continues but clearly this marks a significant shift for our business in a key trading month,” she said

Skydive Lake Wanaka employs a marketing agency in China to help with targeted marketing and social media campaigns. In addition, Jools Hall said the company has taken several measures to make Chinese visitors feel welcome on site.

“We’ve all had fun learning some basic Mandarin as well as translating signs and our briefing video at the drop zone. Last month we celebrated the Year of the Snake by giving out snake lollies and adding other little touches that stay with people and give them stories to help spread the word when they get back home,” she said.

“The fantastic summer weather helped our overall performance but our investment in marketing to China has helped create a buzz about skydiving in Wanaka and attracted far more visitors over Chinese New Year.

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