Tourism Industry Aotearoa white paper suggests big changes looming for New Zealand tourism industry

Emerging technologies and changing visitor demographics will likely change how people plan, book and engage on their holiday in coming years, according to a newly released white paper from Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA).

Released today, TIA’s Visitor Experience in a Changing World white paper explores changing visitor demographics, with a future driven by younger people who are more digitally aware, along with new markets from the emerging global middle class. It also scopes potential impacts of emerging technologies, likely to change nearly everything in terms of how tourism works.

Suggesting that in just five years, the experience for visitors to New Zealand could be quite different from what they are today, TIA Chief Executive, Rebecca Ingram stated “the future visitor experience will continue to be grounded on Aotearoa New Zealand’s landscape and people. However, this will be enriched by a wide range of technologies making travel easier, more informed and more connected. These changes can deepen the experience in ways adding value for our visitors and the industry itself.

“All indications are for the role of technology in tourism to accelerate - and this will create so much opportunity for some truly remarkable experiences - as well as industry productivity.”

“However, Aotearoa New Zealand must be competitive in a global context. Tourism is a key economic pillar for many countries, so to be successful, we must provide a complete experience for visitors, while ensuring access to markets and air connectivity to enable people to get here. How we turn up in the world matters.”

The white paper was launched as leaders of New Zealand’s tourism industry gathered at the Cordis in Auckland to explore these themes in depth and from a variety of perspectives at Tourism Summit Aotearoa.

Widely regarded as tourism’s must-attend thought leadership forum, Tourism Summit Aotearoa is a key event on the annual tourism calendar, bringing together more than 300 business and industry leaders from around the country.

The Summit features talks from industry experts, panel discussions, and focused sessions taking deeper dives into key topics like driving growth and resilience through strong governance, visitor experience design, and gathering data and insights.

Click here to view the full whitepaper, Visitor Experience in a Changing World.

Images: Wanaka's Roys Peak Track (top) and TIA Chief Executive Rebecca Ingram (below).