1. Tourism Market Update July 2016
Christian asked me to come along tonight and give a short presentation on the tourism market.
I will cover the international market, the domestic market, some research we have conducted into the North Island market.
Along the way I will talk a bit about what our plans are for this financial year.
If you have questions, please just ask as we move through the presentation.

2. International Market
The tourism industry has entered a period of significant growth – the growth of the past few years is expected to continue and possibly escalate.
Calendar Year 2015
9.6% growth in visitors
31.3% growth in spend
Forecast (MBIE) 2016 – 2022
Average 5.4% annual growth in visitors
Average 9.4% annual growth in spend
Key markets
Australia – forecast average annual 3.2% growth in visitors, 2.9% growth in spend.
China – forecast average annual 14.5% growth in visitors, 18.0% growth in spend.
China - forecast to overtake Australia in total spend by 2018.
Long-haul: UK 3.1%, Germany 5.7%, USA 7.4% (visitors).

3. International Market
Those who have heard me present previously are probably sick of hearing me refer to China as a key market for NZ and for Hanmer Springs.
Well it simply is! However it is not only China. All of South-East Asia is experiencing growth, and this is forecast to continue. And while efforts focus on China, there are some pretty good numbers coming out of surrounding countries too.
This shows growth in visitor arrivals for the 2015 calendar year.

4. International Markets – Hanmer Springs
9.2%
22.0 vs 19.6%
16.3% Feb
11,972
28.9% Mar
8,449
109,024 (37,663)
Who here noticed an increase in Internationals over Summer?
Hurunui District:
9.2% growth in Internationals for the 10 months July 2015 to April 2016.
16.3% growth in February (vs previous Feb) and 28.9% growth in March (partly due to Easter).
Of those who noticed an increase, where were they from?
China and Asia? The Chinese have started visiting Hanmer Springs!
YTD, 22.0% of visitors to the thermal pools have been Internationals (compared to 19.6% last year).
That equates to 11,972 more international visitors.
8,449 of those extra visitors were from China or Asia.
So in total we have had 109,024 visitors YTD, 37,663 of them have been from China or Asia.
Most of this growth has been during February and March, but with the forecasts we saw earlier it won’t take long for that growth to spread to the shoulder seasons.

5. International Markets – Hanmer Springs
How serious are we taking the International market? We recently hired Megan Li.
Megan has two aspects to her role:
International Sales – Megan is Chinese, but her role will be to manage all international sales. Megan is in China now, presenting to a range of industry contacts over there.
This is a photo of Megan presenting just last week.
And Digital Marketing. We have also recently set up Instagram, Weibo and WeChat accounts, which Megan will manage.
Digital is a growing focus of ours…but many of you will know that it is very labour-intensive. Now that we have Megan, we will be able to expand and increase our digital presence.
If you need assistance with translation or understanding the China market, please contact me – Megan may be able to help, depending on what you are asking for and how busy she is.
We have also set up the China cluster. Along with several other operators we applied to the Chch Airport for some of their funding, and secured it. We have set up this website and are working on a few other initiatives. Now Megan is here we will be looking to promote and enhance the site and develop others.
Australia remains a key market for Hanmer Springs and with solid growth prospects. It is still the pools biggest international market.

6. International Markets - TRENZ
Megan and I recently attended TRENZ, the Tourism Industry Association tradeshow where operators can meet buyers, most of whom are International Very similar to last year - we had 51 appointments, and about 70% of our appointments were Chinese buyers.
Challenges :
We are off the beaten track somewhat – the main routes continue to be from Chch south, plus Chch – Kaikoura – Nelson – West Coast.
New customers, especially from China, tend to want to explore the iconic NZ – glaciers, Mt Cook, Queenstown, Abel Tasman.
Opportunities:
Simple growth based on the forecasts.
Chinese buyers showed interest in the Alpine Pacific triangle, especially for second-time visitors.
Repeat what I said last year - if you look at this photo you can see how some other areas were represented.
Kaikoura – 2 operators and the RTO.
McKenzie – 6 operators and the RTO.
For the Hurunui district, it was just us. Thrillseekers ~ Welcome Aboard.

7. 5.0% 78.0 vs 80.4% -11,572 26.9% / 2.6% Domestic Market
Nationally, not a lot of data or statistics.
The Tourism Industry Association is aiming for a 4% increase in domestic tourism year on year however it is simply not a priority for them.
For Hanmer Springs,
Plateau post-earthquakes
More to do in Christchurch
Opportunities:
Small to medium conferences and events
Longer-term, pre and post conference options, especially from 2019 with the convention centre being built
Hurunui District CAM Stats –
YTD a 5.0% increase in domestic guest nights.
Currently 78% of visitors to the pools are domestic, compared to 80.4% last year.
A decrease of 11,572, almost offsetting our International growth.
An interesting statistic for us is that 26.9% of our domestic website traffic is from Auckland and Wellington…yet 2.6% of our visitors are.
26.9% / 2.6%

8. Research – North Island
Results:
16% unprompted awareness
70% associated Hanmer Springs with thermal pools
“The old rehab hospital” = 5%
Mountain Biking = 2%
46% “no barriers”
How long to get here? Auckland = 4.7 hours, Wellington = 6 hours
Motivators for visiting = package deals, more info
Each year, we undertake research in the Christchurch and Canterbury market.
We are keen to attract more from the North Island – web stats show interest, not conversion.
So, North Island research. Note it was a small sample size.
Results:
16% unprompted awareness (behind Kaikoura, Wanaka, Queenstown, but ahead of West Coast, Blenheim, Marlborough)
70% associated HS with thermal pools. Next highest was “the old rehab hospital” with 5%. MTB = 2%
How long to get here? Auckland = 4.7 hours, Wellington = 6 hours
Motivators for visiting = package deals, more info
So the opportunity is there, we need to start some serious marketing in Auckland and Wellington, using packages as a drawcard.
e.g. GrabaSeat with Heritage.

9. Summary International market Domestic market
Strong growth forecasts
Opportunities
Domestic market
Competitive environment
North Island interest
Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa
International market, especially China
Digital marketing
North Island market
Conferences / meetings market
So marketing-wise, we are having more focus on digital, on International visitors, and on targeting Auckland and Wellington.
This year we will also be investing $2.2 million into the complex.