Wilderness on your doorstep: New Zealand

As a destination, New Zealand isn¡¯t content with just being on your ¡®bucket list¡¯ ¨C it wants you to go there now, says Tourism New Zealand General Manager Western Long Haul Markets, Gregg Anderson.

Talking to e-Travel Blackboard, Mr Anderson said the challenge New Zealand tourism faced lay not in convincing people to want to go there, but in persuading them to travel there as soon as possible.

¡°The bucket list scenario is, I think, sort of a double-edged sword,¡± he remarked.

¡°Whilst it means that everybody wants to go there, it also means you¡¯re, sort of not on the urgent list.

¡°We¡¯re always the second most favourite destination, not the first.

¡°That¡¯s our ongoing dilemma: how do we make it so compelling that you want to go now?" ?

Key to the fix, Mr Anderson stressed, was conveying to potential travelers the accessibility of the country, which had been previously somewhat overlooked.

¡°That¡¯s why when you see new opportunities come in, whether they be new air carriers ¨C such as United [who will start flying to New Zealand again "hopefully" in November or December] ¨C new modes of transport, or powerful brands such as the cruise lines that come to NZ, they help get people over the line,¡± he explained, ¡°because all of a sudden they say ¡®oh, I didn¡¯t realize I could go to New Zealand on my favorite cruise line¡¯, or ¡®I didn¡¯t realize I could go to NZ on United, so I could use miles¡¯.¡±

And once on the ground in New Zealand, Mr Anderson said the country became easily navigable, with most attractions never too far away.

¡°In the space of a day¡¯s driving in New Zealand, you can go from rich agricultural plains down through glaciers and sub tropical rainforest into an alpine wonderland, where you can go skiing or winetasting or play golf at a world-class resort,¡± he told e-Travel Blackboard.