NZ PUSHES CYCLING AS AUSSIE ATTRACTION

TOURISM New Zealand has set its sights on cycle touring to drive inbound tourism, with general manager Tony Saunders confident that Aussie travellers will dominate the market. Hiking tours, campervan holidays and golf getaways have been a key driver for New Zealand tourism in recent years, with wine touring and skiing holidays also seeing continued demand from international travellers. Cycle touring is the latest addition to Tourism NZ’S special interest portfolio as the tourism board looks to expand its grasp in adventure tourism. Over 20 Great Rides have been rolled out over the past 12 months, covering 2500kms of cycle ways in urban and remote locations. Itineraries have been designed to cater for all budgets and fitness levels, ranging from casual trails between vineyards to multi-day adventures. Speaking with travelbulletin, Saunders explained that the push to promote cycle touring was part of a broader strategy to tap into “higher value visitors that make a greater contribution to the local economy”. And with Aussie travellers currently accounting for almost half of all visitors, he said the focus was on promoting cycle touring to the Australian market which has a “strong affinity with New Zealand”. “Australia is our most important market so we are really focused on building awareness of cycle touring and our special interest products to the Australian market so we can stay ahead in the highly competitive market,” he said. Tourism New Zealand research shows that cycling is the fastest growing participation sport in Australia & New Zealand, and around four per cent of international holiday visitors do some sort of cycling on a New Zealand holiday. Tourism NZ’S cycling page has also clocked up 90,000 visits in the last year. Saunders said awareness was the greatest challenge moving forward, and stressed that Tourism NZ had to “work hard” to deliver more product through its trade partners to expand its reach. But he remained confident cycle touring would bring home new bookings and capture a greater share of adventure travellers from across the ditch. “We want to see cycle touring become what skiing holidays is for Australians in the next three to five years and we believe that’s a realistic achievement once Australians become aware of the product and start taking up touring holidays in NZ,” he said.

Visit www.newzealand.com.au/cycling for more details.