Chinese visitors to New Zealand—Demographics and perceptions

The paper reports the findings derived from a study of 400 visitors from the People’s Republic of China to New Zealand. New Zealand has enjoyed designated status as a tourist-receiving country from China since 1998. Consequently, visitor numbers increased to about 27,752 in the 12-month period ending April 2000. It is a new market for New Zealand, and little is known about it. The demographic profile of these visitors revealed a well-travelled segment with aboveaverage incomes and educational attainment. The main motive for their holidays is to see new places not previously visited, and general holiday motives tend to dominate with New Zealand-specific issues playing a subsidiary role. Nonetheless, they are important, but more research is required to understand better the decision-making process of these visitors. An interesting subsample was revealed whereby it seems that about 8 per cent of the visitors are actively using their holiday to assess educational and business opportunities in New Zealand. It is suggested that at present the market corresponds to an innovative, explorer market segment.