NZx July 2nd:100% you?
Naumai
Recent Tourism New Zealand initiatives have focused on the tag 100% Pure You.
Travelling around the South Island recently gave us the opportunity to see how some of the industry is putting the authentic component of this into practise.
What we found has little changed over the last ten years. Some operations (attractions, guiding, accommodation, hospitality) are right on their game while others are less than authentic and unfortunately still not professional.
On the up side we found:
* personalised service including leaving accommodation open despite the host being away
* a wide and varied offering of experiences that continues to grow, seemingly daily
* a publican who left us in the bar playing pool while he left the building to attend to another task
* wide open spaces, lack of traffic, great food and wine and a huge range of accommodation choices
* genuine authentic kiwi experiences that can only be found in NZ
On the down side we found:
* attractions that were outdated and made little attempt to engage visitors at higher and varied levels (i.e. emotional rather than just factual)
* accommodation unable to process electronic transfers despite advertising the availability
* transport providers who could not provide instant confirmation of a booking
* taxi staff who were both rude and obnoxious
* guides who just wouldn’t engage at the level we would expect for the amount of investment we made in their product
We certainly support the upgrading and re-focusing of the former 100% Pure brand. However we are left wondering whether some components of the industry are delivering on the latest promise.
Ka kite ano
Malcolm