NZ gains tourism ranking, but loses ground

Fierce competition in the global tourism market has seen New Zealand lose ground in key areas, but it is a more popular destination overall, an international survey shows.

The Futurebrand Country Brand Index 2009 put New Zealand as fourth best country brand in the world, up three spots from 2008.

The United States, Canada and Australia took the top three places.

The survey, which tracks the preferences of 3000 business and leisure travellers, ranked New Zealand highly as a place people would come back to, a place travellers wanted to live in and as a top destination for outdoor activities.

But in critical attributes like authenticity, friendliness and rest and relaxation, the country lost the top five status it held last year.

Futurebrand chief executive Tim Riches said New Zealand had been "punching above its weight" for years and the recession had highlighted a need to develop its reputation as an "isolated sports and outdoor mecca" to a more comprehensive tourism, cultural and business destination.

Tourism New Zealand spokeswoman Cas Carter said the recession had not affected New Zealand's perception overseas, just how many people actually came here.

Tahiti, Costa Rica and Canada had beaten New Zealand out of the top spot in the natural beauty destination and Ms Carter said competition was increasing as new destinations developed and visitor numbers became scarce.

"Some of those places have become quite fashionable, particularly Costa Rica.

"From New Zealand's perspective it's important that we remain in the top five in people's minds in these important categories."

The index noted destination "authenticity" was under pressure from different takes on the concept, which ranged from synthetic destinations such as man-made islands in the Middle East to "fauxthentic" replicas of iconic international destinations, such as copies of Mayan temples built in the Bahamas.

Ms Carter said authenticity was becoming more and more important in people's travel decisions and that was driving more competition in that sort of destination experience.

Tourism New Zealand monitored the various tourism polls and destination surveys with an eye to maintaining a high ranking, but the actual effect on travel numbers was hard to measure.

However there was no doubt a higher profile led to a higher visitor count.

"People make their decisions on what other people tell them and these things are part of that word of mouth process."

She said strong brands such as Lonely Planet, which listed New Zealand in its top 10 destinations recently, certainly affected travellers' purchasing decisions.

Tourism marketing, boosted by an extra $20 million in government funding for the coming budget, was all about raising the profile.

That extra budget was being apportioned to the relevant markets where extra effort would have the best impact although the marketing mix was not final yet, Ms Carter said.