Zealand Tourism Research Articles

Whakaari/White Island disaster. An analysis informed by sociological theories of risk

On December 9, 2019, the volcano on Whakaari/White Island, a popular New Zealand (NZ) tourist destination, erupted. Twenty-two people died. Drawing on sociological theories of risk, most particularly on systems-thinking, this qualitative analysis describes the origins of the disaster, formulates questions for the authorities and suggests actions to reduce the chances of a repeat. It is concluded that the safety culture of NZ’s adventure tourism (AT) industry requires attention. It is also concluded that bureaucratic devices such as the adventure tourism insurance cover provided by NZ’s Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) may have encouraged, through a risk-compensation dynamic, greater risk-taking. It is suggested that improved oversight will deliver a safer adventure tourism industry. It is recommended that the authorities investigate to what extent insurance cover influences business practices.

Surviving through the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of iFLY Queenstown

Summary The case study discusses the initiatives a tourism business in New Zealand implemented to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic and the business’ plans towards a post-COVID-19 recovery. iFLY Queenstown is a popular tourism business in Queenstown, New Zealand, offering indoor skydiving experiences. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns restricting movement, business was severely disrupted for iFLY Queenstown and the wider New Zealand tourism industry. Despite this, iFLY Queenstown was one of the few businesses that survived and thrived during this disruptive period. This case study discusses the initiatives the Director of iFLY Queenstown, Mr Matt Wong, implemented to ensure his business’ survival during the COVID-19 pandemic and his plans to lead his business towards a post-COVID-19 recovery. The information for this case study is based on a series of one-to-one interviews conducted with Mr Wong during and after the New Zealand border closure driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. This case study is based on a variety of material produced by Culture Ready (Available at: https://cape.org.nz/culture-ready/ ), a programme designed to raise cultural awareness among tourism operators in New Zealand. Information © The Authors 2023

Enhancing Awareness of the Needs of Muslim Visitors among New Zealand Tourism Operators

Summary Muslim visitor-friendly tourism has become one of the fastest growing sectors of the industry. New Zealand, a country whose tourism industry is a central pillar of the national economy, has witnessed an increase in visitors from countries where Islam is the dominant religion in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding. The country also has a small but significant Muslim population. It is against this background that this case study aims to enhance awareness of the faith-based needs of Muslim visitors and the steps that can be taken by tourism operators to meet these. Although the case is situated in New Zealand, it has implications beyond these borders. It explores both Muslim visitors’ and tourism operators’ perspectives, including through video material. The case highlights the importance of satisfying traveller needs in a culturally sensitive way. The end goal of this case study is to recognize the morality of doing the right thing and the business imperatives related to this. Information © The Authors 2023

Guest editorial: The re-imagination of New Zealand tourism

Guest editorial: The re-imagination of New Zealand tourism

Webinar report - 100% Pure Future – New Zealand Tourism Renewed

Webinar report - 100% Pure Future – New Zealand Tourism Renewed

Book review - 100% Pure Future – New Zealand Tourism Renewed

Book review - 100% Pure Future – New Zealand Tourism Renewed

Secondary School Students’ Views of Tourism Education and Tourism Careers

ABSTRACT The global tourism industry has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the World Tourism Organization predicting the possible loss of 1.1 billion international visitors and 1.2 trillion in export revenues. Media coverage has also highlighted the job losses across tourism organizations worldwide. Until recently, tourism was New Zealand’s biggest export earner, employing 8% of the country’s total workforce. However, a negative perception of tourism as both a subject of study and as a career presents challenges for the New Zealand tourism industry, which even before the pandemic was struggling to attract workers. Previous research has found that the often-vocational nature of tourism education contributes to tourism’s reputation as a less credible academic subject. This research, conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, identifies the perceptions New Zealand secondary school tourism students have about a tourism career and the study of tourism and the implications for education, industry and government.

Scenarios for New Zealand tourism: a COVID-19 response

PurposeA case study about the creation of four scenarios that were used to make sense of the fast-moving pace of COVID-19 and the consequences for New Zealand tourism.Design/methodology/approachAdapting global visitor economy scenarios, a set of New Zealand tourism scenarios were constructed using a “back of house Shell” method and were supplemented with an expert panel to test the reliability and validity of the scenarios.FindingsThe four scenarios constructed were based on two critical uncertainties, namely economic recession and the moral dilemma of the consumer. Four scenarios were portrayed using film and TV titles to help participants visualise the scenarios. Crazy Rich Asians: Recovery represented many of the attributes of tourism in New Zealand prior to COVID-19 i.e. a focus on high value tourists from Asia. Contagion: Survival of the Fittest represented the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. This Side of Paradise: ReThinking Tourism focused on rebuilding tourism based upon the principles of sustainability. The Colony: Gated Communities represented fortress destinations trying to keep COVID-19 at bay. Each scenario portrayed several features including a unique narrative, tourism, the tourist, vision, strategy and risks. The paper highlighted the trade-offs and conflicts between the scenarios as COVID-19 unfolded in different directions.Originality/valueIn a fluid situation, the paper reminds readers of the value of scenarios as framing devices to understand the fast-moving pace of COVID-19 when New Zealand was in unchartered waters. Thus, this study highlights how a scenario-planning process builds resilience and foresight to help stakeholders and actors make sense of crisis situations.

Wines from the hinterland: comparing availability of local wines on wine lists in two New Zealand tourism destinations

PurposeThis paper aims to situate restaurant experiences and in particular the wines available on wine lists, within the wider context of wine tourism. This is done by examining the wine lists of restaurants in two New Zealand destinations, focusing in particular on the showcasing of “local wines” and the factors behind these offerings, and outlines the potential implications for hospitality managers and a wider academic audience.Design/methodology/approachThe population of restaurants in each destination was identified using online directories, from which a sample of wine lists, comprising 84 in Christchurch and 43 in Queenstown, was systematically analysed to identify number of wines, regional origin, price and other information. Following this, key informant interviews in restaurants in each destination explored decision-making factors in stocking local wines, including consumer base, existing networks and reputation and additional challenges and opportunities.FindingsRestaurants in each destination offered more New Zealand than foreign wines on their lists, though significant regional differences are apparent. Queenstown restaurants offered slightly fewer imported wines and significantly more local (Central Otago) wines than Christchurch restaurants. The global awareness of Central Otago pinot noir is a factor in this wine list representation, but there are also other influences, including the greater concentration of overseas visitors (pre-pandemic) and more significant visibility and greater opportunities for wine tourism experiences within the destination.Originality/valueThis paper represents an important addition to academic research on wine marketing in the on-premise sector of emerging wine regions. This paper also highlights the potential significance of restaurant meals – including wine choices – in overall wine destination experiences and demonstrates differences in approach between restaurants in wine regions of similar size but with different reputations, international visitation and wine tourism infrastructure.

Re-evaluating New Zealand tourism–what the future holds

PurposeCOVID-19 plunged tourism off the cliff in New Zealand. What did this mean for the country, how did we respond and what is the future?Design/methodology/approachThis is a personal account, reflecting on my thoughts and experiences as Chief Executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa.FindingsIt is a challenging time to try to predict the future given all the remaining COVID-19-related uncertainties. But there are a number of consistencies that will frame the revival of tourism in New Zealand, when international visitors do return. Government, industry and the community will all look to shape the future of tourism, and it is essential we take a balanced score card approach, building back better with a focus on value. However, we must never forget the customer, who may well have the biggest influence.Research limitations/implicationsNo specific research was completed for this article–it relies on the author's industry experience.Originality/valueWe can only have a successful tourism future in Aotearoa if we deliver a broad range of quality products and services that enable us to meet the promise of an economically, socially, culturally and environmentally sustainable destination. The author’s message is to focus on providing customer value in order to achieve that future. It is simple as that.

Persuasive Communications, Online Reviews and Service Performances – A Study on the Hotel Industry of New Zealand

This study examines the relationship between external service quality and hotel performance in New Zealand. Utilising samples consisting of 719 customer reviews from 53 hotels operating under five large hotel chains in major New Zealand tourist cities, it explores how persuasive communication can be linked with the credibility and trustworthiness of online customer feedback and affect the performance of the hotel industry. The SERVQUAL model along with the persuasive communication theory ethos (credibility), logos (reason), and pathos (emotion) are used to measure customer perceptions of the service they receive from top hotel chains, assess the linkage between service performance and profitability, and make suggestions for future research. Customer feedback and ratings from the Trivago website were analysed using a content analysis approach to identify key factors important to customers. This study identifies eleven attributes that are essential to customers as well as to the industry in the service sector, namely, location, rooms, service, cleanliness, value for money, comfort, facilities, buildings, food, WIFI, and parking. The study suggests that there is a significant mediator effect of customer service quality on the interconnected relationship between customer loyalty and hotel performance. The finding provides important information for hotel retail chains that need to promote customer service quality as a vital practice for attracting new customers, as well as for retaining existing customers.

The future of the New Zealand tourism workforce in 2035

This paper uses scenario planning to explore what the New Zealand tourism workforce may look like in the year 2035. Based on a similar study on the Asia-Pacific tourism workforce, a three-round Delphi method was used. From ten drivers of change, immigration policies and the growing Asian market emerged as the most important. These formed the basis for the four alternative future scenarios, each of which presents various challenges and opportunities for employers and employees. The scenarios were named Manaakitanga is Found Here, Pick of the Labour Crop, Struggling for Respect, and Cheap and Plentiful. The study highlights the necessity of seeking a balanced solution for the workforce and striving for a quality tourism product that respectfully integrates indigenous culture.

Is it enough to be market-oriented? How coopetition and industry experience affect the relationship between a market orientation and customer satisfaction performance

Although the advantages of a market orientation (the organisation-wide implementation of the marketing concept) are well-known, many smaller-sized (and under-resourced) companies struggle to satisfy their customers' wants and needs. Therefore, grounded in resource-based theory and the relational view (as well as drawing upon an outside-in marketing perspective), this current study examines whether collaborating with competitors (coopetition) enhances the market orientation – customer satisfaction performance relationship. Based on a mixed methods research approach involving the New Zealand tourism and hospitality sector, the findings showed that while a market orientation positively impacts customer satisfaction performance, surprisingly, this association was negatively moderated by coopetition. A post-hoc test (via a three-way interaction effect) revealed that industry experience can stabilise the potentially harmful consequences of coopetition by allowing decision-makers to cooperate with suitable rivals (those that are trustworthy and target complementary product-markets) to help them achieve mutually-beneficial outcomes. In short, it is sometimes not enough to be market-oriented. Instead, owner-managers are typically best-served if they can coordinate a combination of activities featuring a market orientation, coopetition, and “appropriate” industry experience to create “synergistic” results.

Anchoring “tourism value” within a regenerative tourism paradigm – a government perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic alongside other environmental and social crises have raised questions around the role of government, governance and the notion of tourism value. The aim of this paper, therefore, was to develop a conceptual framework that makes sense of the tourism value discussion within the wider context of the New Zealand Department of Conservation’s aspiration of Papatūānuku Thrives (Mother Earth Thrives). Drawing on critical studies, current New Zealand tourism strategies, stakeholder input and discussions with government employees, a values-based tourism framework has been developed. The “tourism tree” integrates aspects of a regenerative tourism paradigm and cultural values from Te Ao Māori (the world of Māori) and recognises the importance of healthy roots for tourism to contribute positively to multiple wellbeings and give back to place. Whilst only a stepping-stone towards transformative blending of paradigms, the framework will help the Department in their policy and operational decisions, with a view towards achieving intergenerational positive outcomes from tourism.

The Influence of Entrepreneurial Desires and Self-Efficacy on the Entrepreneurial Intentions of New Zealand Tourism and Hospitality Students

ABSTRACT This study investigates the motivational effects of entrepreneurial desires and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) as drivers of entrepreneurial intentions in tourism and hospitality (T&H) students. Additionally, the antecedents of entrepreneurial desires, such as anticipated emotions and entrepreneurial role models, are explored to understand motivational processes that lead to entrepreneurial intentions. Data from 177 surveys of T&H students in New Zealand were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling to test the study’s hypotheses. The results found that ESE and entrepreneurial desires directly influenced entrepreneurial intentions. Additionally, the effect of entrepreneurial desires on entrepreneurial intentions was partially mediated by ESE. Also, entrepreneurial role models significantly predicted T&H student’s ESE and entrepreneurial desires. Finally, positive anticipated emotions predicted T&H student’s entrepreneurial desires. The study provides important implications to theory and practice to promote entrepreneurship in tourism and hospitality education.

Sweet Suburbia and the Bustling City

This paper focuses on the representation of Wellington in New Zealand tourism films in the decades preceding the establishment of the National Film Unit (NFU) in 1941. While critically engaging with current discourses about early New Zealand film production, New Zealand film history, New Zealand human geography and the cinematic city, it performs the textual analysis of eight case studies also examining archival materials related to their production, circulation and reception. This article aims to demonstrate how the cinematic depiction of New Zealand’s capital city in the analysed time frame was a complex and multi-layered process driven and characterised by the coexistence and intertwining of tourism marketing, national publicity and colonial agenda.

Paradoxes and actualities of off-the-beaten-track tourists

The need for a transformation of the tourism system has never been greater. To achieve such positive transformation, tourists need to be transformed as well. This also means that they need to embrace more alternative and sustainable travel forms with lower impacts on the social and natural environments of host communities. Experienced tourists that engage in more authentic, immersive experiences and travel off-the-beaten track are seen as potential ambassadors of such transformative shifts. However, little is known about off-the-beaten-track travel and the relationships between being experienced tourists, travelling off-the-beaten-track and engaging in other sustainable travel forms. Based on a mixed-methods design comprising semi-structured interviews with German and New Zealand destination marketers and an online survey with 500 German and 500 New Zealand tourists, this paper empirically addresses these knowledge gaps. Results reveal a positive relationship between off-the-beaten-track travel and the self-identification as an experienced tourist. There is further evidence that off-the-beaten-track tourists do not only aim for immersive and authentic travel experiences, but are also inclined to participate in more sustainable and ethically responsible travel. Inherent paradoxes remain, particularly with reference to their online-offline behaviour and desire to become travel pioneers, thereby paving the way for mass tourism. This paper suggests that more institutionalised forms of off-the-beaten-track travel along with stricter regulations will be needed to achieve the desired transformation towards sustainability. Given that experienced, off-the-beaten-track tourists are more aware of their own impact and are receptive for stricter measures, the identified inherent paradoxes are seen as an opportunity. This paper advocates that experienced, off-the-beaten-track tourists can become important voices in the desired transformative shifts and need to be better integrated in tourism planning, marketing and management.

Food tourism’s moment in the New Zealand sun

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of food tourism to connect local communities and strengthen the visitor economy through COVID-19 induced international visitor downfalls and reimagine New Zealand tourism.Design/methodology/approachAs a viewpoint paper, this paper is a personal and professional reflection of the relevance of food for New Zealand tourism.FindingsThe three themes of community, connection and challenges identify the potential of using local communities as ambassadors to connect both local and international visitors alike with New Zealand culture.Practical implicationsFindings of this paper can provide guidance for global communities on how to both mitigate a reduction in visitor arrivals while creating a foundation for future positioning as food destinations.Originality/valueThere is a lack of insight into the potential of special interest tourism in reimagining a post-COVID-19 tourism landscape, and this viewpoint paper contributes through its practical and community-based approach.

Manufacturing urban identities: The emergence of Auckland’s and Wellington’s ‘character’ in New Zealand tourism film

Since its inception, New Zealand film production has often been characterized by a strong focus on the promotion and marketing of local scenic locations. However, over the last few decades and simultaneously with New Zealand’s rapidly increasing urbanization rates, urban narratives have gained prominence in the cinematic representation of the country, gradually becoming important aspects of national tourism marketing campaigns. This article first provides an overview of New Zealand tourism film’s dynamics of production and recurring themes and narratives from the early twentieth century to the 1960s. It then focuses on Toehold on a Harbour and This Auckland – tourism films produced by the government-led New Zealand National Film Unit and released respectively in 1967 and 1966 – and identifies a turning point in the manufacturing of local urban narratives and in New Zealand urban tourism marketing. My critical and textual analysis of these two case studies notably relies on the examination of archival documents related to their production and on an interview with This Auckland’s director Hugh Macdonald. It ultimately shows how the emergence of ‘cities with a character’ as a tourism marketing tool was in fact a carefully planned, articulated and years-long government-driven strategy.

From corporatist consensus to neo-liberal revolution: a gendered analysis of the hotel workers union and its impact on (un)sustainable employment practices in the New Zealand hotel sector, 1955–2000

This paper takes a critical, historical employment relations approach to present an original contribution to research on sustainable tourism employment. The research is focussed on a gendered analysis of (un)sustainable employment practices in the New Zealand tourist hotel sector from 1950 to 2000, specifically concentrating on the role of the Hotel Workers Union and the broader post-war corporatist and neo-liberal economic, political and social policies that affected tourism work during this period. After presenting a detailed historical narrative in the findings, the paper argues that by uncovering the influences of global, national and organisation level change on sustainable labour we can gain meaningful, new perspectives on employment in this sector.