The great thing about a buzzword is how effectively you can leverage the assumption it means the same thing to everyone. High-value tourism is the buzzword of the moment in tourism everywhere, not just in New Zealand but it’s clear we’re not all in agreement as to what high-value tourism really means. And words, especially buzzwords, without action are meaningless. Turning a buzzword into meaningful direction for industry requires a definition everyone can collectively take action on.

THE QUEST FOR A DEFINITION:

Minister for Tourism, Stuart Nash, had to take the industry backlash when he tried to pin high-value tourism to the wealth of the individual traveller in November 2020, declaring New Zealand would target the global 1%.  

This poses a problem: if we define high-value tourism based on the overall revenue potential of a potential traveller, we consider only what they bring to our industry. That’s the definition Tourism Australia has chosen, recently their new high-value customer fact sheets for 14 key inbound markets. Tourism Australia’s definition: high-value travellers are likely to spend more, stay longer and disperse more regionally. 

Sound familiar? Encouraging all travellers to New Zealand to spend more, stay longer and visit more regions was the marketing remit for Tourism New Zealand for more than a decade. Those inside and outside the industry know it’s time to move beyond that paradigm. 

Industry research published by GOOD Travel in December 2020 reoriented in the right direction – focused on delivering values-based tourism experiences to travellers who share uniquely New Zealand values.  

“If we choose to focus on marketing to visitors who share New Zealand’s values – kaitiakitanga (environmental guardianship), whanaungatanga (connection and belonging), manaakitanga (hospitality and welcoming) – then we will attract visitors with attitudes and intentions that will build tourism back to be sustainable, resilient, and thriving,” said researcher Josie Major. 

But if we only market New Zealand to travellers who already share and place a high priority on our values, we’re not delivering over and above customer expectations. Taking into account that the future of tourism is customer-driven beyond the ability of New Zealand’s tourism marketing agencies to self-determine exactly who will choose New Zealand, former TIA chief executive, Chris Roberts summed it up effectively in the Journal of Tourism Futures (Feb 2022)  

“As an industry, the future should be about delivering great value to high quality visitors who want authentic connections–be they domestic or international, rich or poor, old or young. If we deliver a broad range of quality products and services–and every operator strives to meet or exceed the expectations of every visitor–then New Zealand will also meet all of our social tourism goals. We can have the world’s most sustainable tourism industry. That is not only a good thing to do. It is an essential thing to do, and it will enhance our country brand and ensure that we are delivering the right outcomes for New Zealand and for our visitors.” 

A LIGHT ON THE (CLOSE) HORIZON:

At Grow Tourism, we’ve developed a High Value Tourism Growth Cycle based on what we’ve seen some of our best-performing tourism businesses deliver in high-value experiences while creating positive impact for their employees, communities and industry.  

We’ve seen that New Zealand’s tourism industry will be rebuilt by those businesses and leaders that understand the vital relationship between customer experience and commercial success is just the beginning of building a high value tourism business. The vital next step is how we will invest in developing a tourism workforce equipped to deliver those customer experiences in a new world of tourism. Already those businesses prepared to invest and commit to their staff are demonstrating higher resilience in the return.  

Success at each stage of the high-value tourism growth cycle actually unlocks the ability for business to embrace and succeed at the next stage. Increased performance of your staff and strength of local networks has a direct impact on the ability of a business to build healthy culture internally and engage effectively outside the business. Effective sustainability practices come from a healthy culture that understands and prioritises impact, inside and outside the business. And a tourism business cannot build a legacy for the future without having strong investment in their future commercial opportunities, people & networks, culture or sustainability. In every example we’ve examined or explored, we see these themes of success over and over again.  

Our definition of high-value tourism? Traveller-focused businesses that unlock greater value for people, places and communities by embracing a customer-focused commercial success model aligned to principles of people & networks, culture, sustainability and building future legacy.  

We’re ready to see tourism in New Zealand start to rebuild based on a real, successful and working definition of high-value tourism at every level – customer service to boardrooms. Every tourism operator in the country can start today simply by asking the question – how are we doing against each of those growth pillars?  

Join us at growtourism.com for regular updates as we get ready to launch our practical learning platform, designed to share and upskill every tourism practitioner in the country in the pragmatic skills and abilities needed to deliver well in the high-value tourism model.  

Tash McGill, co-founder Grow Tourism.