30 November 2007

New Zealand wins best holiday destination

New Zealand has been voted the Best Holiday Destination Worldwide by readers of the British Daily Telegraph newspaper, Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor said today.

The Telegraph Travel Awards are the result of the biggest annual independent survey of the British travelling public. Some 30,000 readers are questioned on their travel habits.

“An award like this is a great accolade for New Zealand and for our hard working tourism industry. The fact that our customers are the voters means the award is an authentic assessment of the quality of our tourism offer,” said Mr O’Connor.

“The United Kingdom, our second largest market for visitor arrivals - contributing 300,000 visitors over the past year, is a valued market for New Zealand and one where we have to work hard to stay ahead of the competition,” Mr O’Connor said.

“The New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015 highlights the need for New Zealand to deliver a world class visitor experience in order to stay ahead in what is a highly competitive industry globally.

“Offering outstanding customer service and ensuring we offer travellers deep, rich, authentic and unique experiences are crucial factors in delivering a world class visitor experience.

“We need to continue to deliver in this area and position New Zealand as a trend setter, rather than a follower, so we continue to attract the huge number of international visitors we are at present,” said Mr O’Connor.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our hard working tourism industry and Tourism New Zealand for their dedication and commitment to promoting New Zealand as the fantastic tourism destination that it is.

“Since the launch of the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign in 2000, we have seen a 61 percent increase in the number of Britons travelling to New Zealand,” said Mr O’Connor.

The Telegraph Travel Awards were announced in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands on 29th November. As a result of the Travel Awards, the Telegraph will be producing a 24-page full colour newsprint tabloid supplement on the 8th Dec, which will highlight the winners.

New Zealand previously won Telegraph reader awards for best destination in 2005 and 2004.

ENDS

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