FUTURE OF BUSINESS
TREND REPORT — TAILORED TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
Travel is in New
Zealand’s DNA
The Baby Boomer
bulge has given us
more consumers to
market to.
1
Today’s consumers are extremely knowledgeable
and often know many of the highlights they want to
experience and trip details from researching on
the internet.
2
Travelling to Africa, Asia and South America is now
commonplace for Kiwis and most of these destinations
are on travel bucket lists.
3
TODAY’S TRAVELLERS ARE
MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE THAN
EVER BEFORE AND VENTURING
TO A WIDER VARIETY OF
DESTINATIONS. HOWEVER THE
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT,
COMPETITION FOR CONSUMER
SPENDING AND DISRUPTIVE
TECHNOLOGY ARE CHALLENGES
THAT WE AND OUR TRAVEL
AGENT PARTNERS, HAVE HAD TO
ADAPT TO.
The surge in popularity of cruising holidays for Kiwis in
the last decade has also been a change for the travel
industry to adapt to.
4
We have seen a 35% growth in our tailor-made
packages over the past 12 months, which we put down
to a growing trend of knowledgeable baby boomers
wanting to have complete control over the experience
they book.
5
Active components like walking and cycling are being
included in more itineraries and more clients are
demanding travel experiences that they can brag about
to friends or over social media.
FUTURE OF BUSINESS
TREND REPORT — TAILORED TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
The travel landscape has changed significantly over the past 35 years.
We have seen plenty of changes in terms of our travelling customers and the range of destinations they
are venturing too. Today’s economic environment, the competition for consumer buying dollars and
advancements in technology are challenges, that we, along with our travel agent partners, have learnt to
adapt to.
Talking generally, in the 1980s the average Kiwi consumer had a limited knowledge of the destinations in
Africa, Asia and South America. It’s fair to say it took a ‘very adventurous client’ to head there and there were
very few operators offering holidays in those places. Air access was also an issue; I remember a time when
Aerolineas Argentinas only flew to New Zealand once a month, so you can imagine it was an appealing job
for cabin crew then who could have a month resting between flights!
59%
OF INTERNATIONAL
TRAVELLERS IN
THE PAST
12 MONTHS
BOOKED ONLINE
Today’s consumers are extremely
knowledgeable about regions within travel
destinations
Travellers often know many of the highlights
they want to experience and trip details from
researching on the internet.
Travelling to Africa, Asia and South America is now
commonplace for Kiwis and we are lucky that most
of these destinations are on travel bucket lists.
That said, we now have a lot more competition
from other travel destinations and operators. In
our tougher economic environment, we are not
just competing against other travel companies
for consumer dollars but against other consumer
goods and major expenses like house renovations.
FUTURE OF BUSINESS
TREND REPORT — TAILORED TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
The growing Baby Boomers bulge has given us more consumers to market to.
The challenge for us and our travel agency partners, as I’m sure it is with all New Zealand
marketers and media strategists, is how we continue to best reach them across so many channels
and platforms.
We are fortunate that travel is in New Zealanders’ DNA and the vast majority of Kiwis want to see
the world and so find a way to make holiday plans a budgeting priority. We are benefiting from
better air access and lower air fares to the likes of Buenos Aires for South America, Ho Chi Minh for
Vietnam, and to North America for our US National Parks and Canada/Alaska programmes - part
of the additional two million air seats into the NZ aviation market in 2016.
NZ SPENDS
$27M
ON INTERNATIONAL
FLIGHTS EVERY WEEK
FUTURE OF BUSINESS
TREND REPORT — TAILORED TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
Age Distribution of International Travellers
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
10-19
8.80%
20-29
16.60%
30-39
16.10%
40-49
17.50%
50-59
17.50%
60-74
17.40%
75+
0.00%
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-74
75+
6.10%
Source: Nielsen CMI Q2
15 - Q1 16
Aging Travel Market
The surge in popularity of cruising holidays
for Kiwis in the last decade has also been a
change for the travel industry to adapt to.
We ensured that we could be a part of that
growth by working with key suppliers and we
have found our niche specialising in ocean
expedition cruising.
60-74
YEAR OLDS ARE THE BIGGEST
SPENDERS WHEN IT COMES TO
PACKAGE HOLIDAYS, SPENDING
$177M A YEAR
BETWEEN THEM
FUTURE OF BUSINESS
TREND REPORT — TAILORED TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
Popularity of Cruises
We have seen a 35% growth in our tailor-made
packages over the past 12 months, which we put
down to a growing trend of knowledgeable baby
boomers wanting to have complete control over
the experience they book. Active components
like walking and cycling are being included in
more itineraries and more clients are demanding
travel experiences that they can brag about to
friends or over social media. Whether that is
climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, viewing Machu Picchu at
sunrise or learning Capoeira on the beach in Rio.
Several travel companies are now emphasising
getting up close and personal with the locals as part
of their holiday experiences. Again, that trend has
probably helped us as it has always been part of our
soft adventure holidays. Our clients want authentic
experiences in the destinations they visit, but at the
end of the day the vast majority still prefer to get
back to a four-star hotel.
Dave Nicholson is the general manager for
Adventure World, which specialises in tailor-made
travel experiences around the globe.
www.adventureworld.com
Kiwis who would consider going on a cruise
41%
80%
OF INTERNATIONAL
60%
TRAVELLERS ARE OVER 50
40%
20%
0%
2014
2015
2016
2014
60.2%
2015
64.6%
2016
70.2%
Source: Nielsen CMI Q2
13 - Q1 14, Q2 14 - Q1 15, Q2
15 - Q1 16
70%
OF KIWIS WOULD CONSIDER
GOING ON A CRUISE