NowNext survey reveals Kiwis’ travel desires

Stuff’s NowNext Travel survey has gathered insight into the ‘hearts and minds of New Zealanders’ releasing the latest report in November, this time discovering continued strong demand for both domestic and international travel.

Drawing responses  from Stuff’s audience across the motu, the November NowNext survey offers businesses valuable insight into how New Zealanders are feeling about travel, tapping into their dreams, concerns, and intentions.

With a robust sample size of over 2200 Kiwis, the NowNext Travel surveys provide rapid, invaluable insights for brands wishing to capture and better understand public views.

Head of Travel at Stuff, David Blackwell, says as a business, Stuff’s data and insights offering is becoming an important pillar and provides the opportunity to add value for clients.

“The NowNext brand is the anchor in terms of the consumer facing proposition of different topics. For us it is a case of being thought leaders in this space. We have got amazing journalists that write about inspiring destinations, and we provide some strong commercial solutions for advertisers that want to reach those audiences.

“It was a natural extension to leverage the new capability the business has got and provide interesting insights for both our audience and customers as well.”

Three surveys are released each year with the latest one in November. The latest results show that Kiwis are looking for relaxation and connection as the summer season hits. With leave dates locked in, more than 68 percent are planning to take a trip somewhere in New Zealand within the next three months.

And despite Kiwis exploring the country thoroughly while the borders were closed, domestic holidays show no sign of slowing down with 76 percent of New Zealanders intending to travel locally within the next 12 months, up from 73 percent in July.

“Domestic travel has held up quite strongly,” says David.

“I think it’s quite cool that a lot of Kiwis did different things domestically during Covid because we had no other options but it’s great that that demand has held strong domestically.”

Many child-free and single Kiwis named Queenstown as a favourite spot to head to when the months get warmer, while beach holidays in Northland and the Coromandel are set to gain popularity with Aucklanders this summer.

The survey also found that the draw towards international excursions remains high with six in ten Kiwis intending to travel overseas in the next year. Interestingly Asia and India are proving popular places to explore while the jaunts to Australia and the USA have moved down the popularity list.

David says one of the most interesting findings was the strong international demand for Kiwis to travel overseas.

“More than half have planned or have already booked to go overseas in the next 12 months. There was a big surge in Kiwis getting overseas and visiting family and friends when borders opened but that demand is looking to continue into next year. I think it’s getting back into some normality where Kiwis are an intrepid bunch and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Albeit there are some barriers starting to come through that we can see.”

One of the most noticeable barriers is the cost-of-living crisis looming. With airline fares soaring during holiday months, 30 percent of Kiwis responded to the survey saying flights are too expensive for them to travel domestically and many are choosing to travel via car instead. 

“The data shows us it [the cost-of-living crisis]hasn’t quite bitten yet in terms of diminishing that demand, but cost-of-living increases and the impact of inflation is starting to pair back some of that demand into next year.”

As the nation learns to live with Covid, concerns about catching the virus while travelling are diminishing from 15 percent to 7 percent with the survey revealing Kiwis are seeking more guidance around what to do and where to go, signaling a significant opportunity for domestic tourism operators.

Up from just four percent in July, now 13 percent of Kiwis noted in the November report that they needed inspiration or information to help them plan their next destination.

“Certainly, people’s perceptions of what is holding them back has dramatically shifted from people worrying about getting Covid to now where the primary concern is the cost of airfares,” says David.

The NowNext Travel surveys have the scale to provide trusted insight for the tourism industry, he adds.

“We have the scale in terms of audience and these surveys provide a good depth of respondents of over 2,200 Kiwis and we weight the data to make it nationally representative.”

NowNext Travel can also offer insight into what types of experiences and activities Kiwis are looking for when they travel.

As a publisher Stuff can then create branded content and opportunities for tourism businesses to tell their stories to a large group of ‘travel intending’ Kiwis.

“We can look forward to seeing what Kiwis are thinking and then [businesses]can help shape their products and offerings around that.”

View the full report here. If your business or organisation would like to connect with our travel audience via future surveys or our other travel publications, please get in touch with david.blackwell@stuff.co.nz  

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