Domestic perceptions of the West Coast
Over the past four days Development West Coast (DWC) has hosted workshops across the region on domestic perception of the West Coast.
The workshops in Fox Glacier, Franz Josef, Hokitika, Greymouth and Westport presented research findings on how the West Coast is perceived as a visitor destination by New Zealanders, and discussed the opportunities this provides for local businesses.
DWC Destination and Tourism Manager Patrick Dault said, “this week we engaged with close to 100 tourism operators and Coasters with a stake/interest in tourism as we unveiled the domestic perception research findings and future projects.”
“This is a fantastic turnout and shows the commitment of the region to the visitor economy, from Fox Glacier to Westport. It is a great time to reconnect with operators as the country reopens to the world.”
For the project market research and brand company, One Picture, surveyed around 1,200 New Zealanders on their perceptions of the West Coast.
Nathan Farmer from One Picture said domestic travellers have an overwhelming positive experience when they do visit the region, with 92% of participants in the study expressing a desire to return to the West Coast.
Nathan said as well as readying for Australian travellers, it’s important to “galvanize the work that has been invested into the domestic market, unifying the industry around game changer projects and understand perception from a domestic perspective.”
