Kiwis keen to visit Wellington, survey shows
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One in five domestic holidaymakers list Wellington as their favourite destination, a new survey shows.
In the inaugural Mood of the New Zealand Traveller survey, which canvassed 1000 Kiwis, Wellington was the most popular choice, gaining 21 per cent. Auckland was second most popular, Christchurch third, Queenstown fourth and Nelson fifth.
Australia and the United States were the top two international holiday picks.
The survey, a new quarterly travel measure from customer loyalty programme Fly Buys and market researchers Colmar Brunton, also showed the capital's Have a Love Affair with Wellington marketing campaign may have had unexpected results.
The drive, aimed at domestic travellers, started in July 2008. Two per cent of those surveyed reported a "romantic conquest" on their visit to the city.
Figures issued at the start of the campaign showed the domestic market forms Wellington's largest visitor market, bringing in $557 million to the local economy each year. Domestic tourism is worth $24 million a day to New Zealand's economy.
Positively Wellington Tourism chief executive David Perks said: "Wellington's gone from being somewhere people couldn't wait to leave to somewhere people can't wait to get to, and that's been a team Wellington effort.
"It's a credit to people who have made the bold decisions necessary to make things happen, but just as much to the residents who make visitors feel welcome, to the businesses and the events that attract and entertain them."
Of those polled at least half said being too busy at work stopped them taking a break, and of those that did get away, a quarter stayed in touch with the office throughout their holiday.
The darker side of holiday love-affairs was also represented with 6 per cent of respondents reporting they were holidaying to "get away from someone".
With disposable income hurt by the recession, 19 per cent of those surveyed said they had been nowhere in the past six months, with finances the main impediment.
However, only 8 per cent thought they would be stuck at home for the next six months, and 40 per cent said they planned to take at least three trips.
Only 12 per cent of people said they sought thrills on holiday. Most were off to see friends and family, while at least half were headed to the beach.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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The shopping in auckland is way better than anywhere else, also the armegeddon up there is 50 times better than the silly little one we get in wellington. Plus, wellington is too windy, and auckland gets more bands/gigs.
Wellington is cool. A shame about the people though.
Why are people moaning about Welly? It's great! I've never liked Auckland or Chch, Welly is definatley the best of the main cities. But I'd pick the Tasman region as #1 and the Malborough Sounds as #2, then Hamner Springs at #3.
No Christchurch on the list? mhmh just like they were left out of the top 10 cultural towns on AA's list.
Kind of a dumb survey - Auckland has the most people so it's not going to be first because all of its residents are going to want to holiday elsewhere. At the same time domestic travellers are pretty likely to want to visit family - who are most likely to be in Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington - oh look, it's the top three.
who's the editor for stuff? the number of articles that have mistakes are shocking.. this one looks ok, what a surprise
Wellington = Great City!
I'd say my favourite is Rotorua. I like both the cheesy tourist attractions and the impressive nature (especially Mount Tarawera). Even the smell is entertaining. Or if you're looking to get away from the cheesy side of things, Fiordland is great too.
I grew up in Wellington, and I can agree that it's a nice place to visit, but the wind and the temperature are not nice to live in. I wouldn't want to live in London or Paris for the same reasons, although I did go there in a particularly cold and windy winter.
Wellington has its charms but I really love Mt Maunganui, maybe the weather has a lot to do with that. Also Queenstown is beautiful and i love love love hanmer springs.
Wellington has the best night-life ever.. Wellington vibe is amazing, people are everywhere enjoying themselves .. and I reckon it's more crowded at night then during the day. Everything's centralised with loads of bars and clubs all 5mins walk of one another and with lots of variety at that. Most other places around the world I've been to all require a taxi trip from one club to the next.
For those who critisise it as being 'boring' .. Te Papa isn't the only tourist attraction. There's the Cable Car up to the Botanical Gardens (is the Planetarium still up there?), and Oriental Parade is nice. You can do some rock-climbing, kayaking, hire one of those four-man frog carts, there's parks, outlooks, nice road drives around the bays, walks along the Southern and Eastern Walkways, the Karori air-turret, several golf courses dotted around, St James theater... the list goes on...
Wellington - big thumbs up from me :D
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I have been to Wellington once, and I don't think it was too bad.
the Twizel - Mount Cook region is my favourite, except the cows. Shoot the cows!!