Untapped markets for New Zealand tourism: Young Families
Bella Katz on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
New Zealand is big on promoting itself as the destination of choice for thrill seekers and adventure junkies, but there’s an equally lucrative market they should be talking to more often and that’s young families.
The marketing of New Zealand, at least here in Australia, has long been around the sporty outdoor activity gig - a message now well and truly ingrained. If you want to go bungy jumping, jet boating, heli-skiing, mountain hiking… <insert double-barrel extreeeme activity here> - we know the country to go to.
Now here we are in holiday mode with a very young child and that type of action adventure is as far from mine and my husband’s reality as lounging around bars all day with friends in sexy European locations. It’s not because we don’t want to you understand, we just can’t.
As a New Zealander I know NZ is a great place for families with young kids, especially for neighbouring Australians who are a mere 3-4 hour flight away, but I wonder why NZ tourism hasn’t made a bigger deal about this segment of the market and made sure New Zealand is as analogous with family as it is with adventure.
Here’s my typical mental checklist for a holiday with young kids:
- How far is it? My child/I will go insane on any flight longer than 4 hours - unless we’re going for a month plus
- Is it safe? Nothing on the front page today on terrorism, floods, disease, crime
- Is there good stuff to do that kids can get in on too? Enough to keep the kids entertained and good food/wine/sights for us
- Is it easy to get around? I can rent a car and drive everywhere easily or public transport is solid
- Are prices ok? Accommodation, food, currency is working for me right now
Being from New Zealand, I know NZ ticks all these boxes (except perhaps public transport, but we can overlook that as driving is so easy there). From Australia you’ve arrived within a few hours, you can jump in the car and drive to some beautiful beach destinations, you can jump on a ferry and head to gorgeous island wineries, you can eat in some fabulous restaurants, you can hit the groovy boutiques for a spot of shopping, you can go fruit picking at the best farms around, it’s all there and it’s all very easy with little kiddies in tow.
So I wonder why NZ Tourism doesn’t feature families in their marketing more prominently. They should run some campaigns in Australia (to start with) that talk specifically to parents, get us excited about having a “milder” NZ adventure, A.K.A. world class tourism that doesn’t necessarily involve leaping off a bridge or having to wear protective head gear. It’s a ripe message just waiting to be picked.
Tags: family holiday, holiday, New Zealand, nz, young family, young kids