‘Why did you come?’

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33777, 25 February 1975, Page 2

‘Why did you come?’

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 24. The Minister of Tourism (Mrs Tiri-katene-Sullivan) intends to introduce widerranging questionnaires for tourists arriving in New Zealand to discover more about why people come to this country.

Speaking on her return from the International Air Transport Association conference in Manila, the Minister said that more comprehensive data on visitors must be available more promptly. She had changed her itinerary to return through Hawaii in order to study the system of data collection there. New Zealand’s visitor statistics were eight to nine months out of date by the time they were processed, she said.

Under her new system, these statistics would be available month to month, although the cost of collection should be about the same.

The Minister said the new questionnaire would be voluntary, and would ask tourists about such things as why they decided to visit New Zealand, and why they chose a particular time of the year for their visit. This would be followed up by a letter after the visitors left, asking for their impressions and comments on New Zealand. In Hawaii this practice had brought a very high response rate, and had gathered valuable information. Mrs Tirikatene-Sullivan said some departmental resources would be redeployed to put the new scheme into effect.

BIGGER BUDGET She also said that the department would budget this year to spend sl.9m on overseas promotion, compared with $1.43m last year. But she said it was not her aim to promote “hordes of people flowing in an uncontrolled manner through New Zealand.”

The Minister emphasised the importance to New Zealand of overseas earnings from tourism. “Tourism is the most regu-

lar overseas money-earner and has one of the highest growth rates. Tourism earnings this year, including revenue from Air New Zealand, will exceed slooom — earnings that this country badly needs,” she said. This income from tourism had risen 40 per cent in two years.