Market profile of visitors to natural attractions in Aotearoa New Zealand
He tauhokohoko ngä whakaaturanga a ngä manuhiri ki rawa whenua o Aotearoa
Public Good Science Fund
'Sustainable Tourism' Project
Objective 2: Ecotourism and environmental values
Centre for Tourism
Research Team
Dr. James Higham, Lecturer
Anna Carr, Lecturer
Introduction
This research is one part of a five year research project titled 'Sustainable Tourism' being conducted by a team of researchers at the Centre for Tourism and Marketing Department, University of Otago. The 'Sustainable Tourism' project is directed by Professor Geoff Kearsley, Director, Centre for Tourism, University of Otago (gwkearsley@business.otago.ac.nz). It is funded by the Public Good Science Fund. The bidding process for this research funding is administered by the Foundation of Research Science and Technology with input from the New Zealand Tourism Industry Association, New Zealand Tourism Board, Department of Conservation and other relevant industry organisations. Funding applications are fully peer reviewed domestically and internationally to ensure rigour in research design and methodology.
This objective is titled:
Market profile of visitors to natural attractions in Aotearoa.
He tauhokohoko ngä whakaaturanga a ngä manuhiri ki rawa whenua o Aotearoa
It is a two year objective (September 1, 1999-2001) that will examine the environmental values held by visitors, both domestic and international, to ecotourism sites and attractions in New Zealand.
Research Context
The term ecotourism has become very widely used. It is a term that has to some degree become meaningless due to the wide parameters of its application. This situation is disadvantageous to both operators who may be unsure of the values, motivations and expectations of visitors, and tourists who may be unsure of the product offered by ecotourist operators and the qualities of experience that they provide. So there are advantages to be achieved, for both operators and tourists, in understanding the values held by visitors to ecotourism attractions.
Research Objectives
This project will study visitors to ecotourism attractions using tourist values as the basis of the research. It will provide an:
- Appreciation of the values held by visitors to ecotourism attractions in New Zealand and
- Understanding of how values that tourists hold translate into behaviour at ecotourism sites.
This research therefore is designed to assist operators in the following ways:
- Understanding the ecotourism market based on the values that they hold.
- Appreciation of tourist values and the relationship between values and on site behaviour.
- Product development based on an understanding of niche market values and expectations
- Segmentation of the ecotourism market based on demographic and psychographic profiles.
Methodology
Data collection will include operators that fall within three geographical clusters, with North and South Island operators equally represented. The clusters that have been selected are as follows:
- Coromandel/Bay of Islands
- Lower North Island/Upper South Island
- Coastal Otago
A comprehensive directory of ecotourism operators has been compiled in recent weeks and four operators within each cluster have been selected. The selection of operators within these clusters was based on several selection criteria. These include type of operation, core business, track record, domestic and international visitor status, contribution to conservation and recognition through ecotourism and related awards. It is the aim of the research team to collect data from a variety of the operations that collectively comprise the ecotourism sector.
Ecotourism definitions
Please enter the password for accessing the Ecotourism definitions
Data Collection
Year one (1999/2000). Qualitative data collection.
In the first year participant observation and semi-structured interviews will be conducted. Researchers will work in pairs to allow comparisons of interpretation. The observation of tourists will take place at each site over the course of two days (this may vary to some extent with different operations). This will require anonymous inclusion of researchers in all aspects of the tourist's on-site experience. The second phase of the research will involve in-depth interviews with tourists at the completion of their tour. These will take approximately fifteen minutes each and it is the intention of the researchers to conduct 20-40 interviews per attraction. These two phases will respectively seek to collect tourist behaviour and environmental values data. The researchers will be required to spend in the vicinity of three to four days at each operation during this stage of the research (participant observation followed by interviews taking place over two days each).
Year two (2000/2001). Quantitative data collection.
A questionnaire will be designed and administered in the second year. The design of the questionnaire will draw upon the analysis of data collected in the first year. The aim of the questionnaire survey will be to collect quantitative data that will allow in-depth analysis of the environmental values held by visitors to ecotourist attractions in New Zealand. The data will also be analysed to identify links between environmental values and on-site behaviour. The research project requires 800 valid surveys to be completed. Accounting for non-response, invalid response and partial completion, it will be necessary to administer approximately 100-120 surveys per site (although this figure will vary in cases of small scale operations). Every effort will be made to administer surveys personally so as to eliminate the involvement of operations staff in this process. Personal delivery and postal return techniques will be employed to minimise time on site and disruption to standard tour operations.
Ecotourism Web Sites
Listed by agent and web site address. All sites could be accessed in June 2000.
New Zealand Sites
Department of Conservation, New Zealand http://www.doc.govt.nz
Ecotour Operators throughout New Zealand http://www.ecotours.co.nz
Forest and Bird http://www.forest-bird.org.nz
Tourism Industry Association NZ http://www.tianz.org.nz
Tourism New Zealand http://www.tourisminfo.govt.nz
Tourism New Zealand 100% PURE marketing campaign http://www.purenz.com
New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust http://nzwhaledolphintrust.tripod.com/home/
Participating Operators
Catlins Wildlife Trackers http://www.catlins-ecotours.co.nz
Dolphin Encounters Fullers Northland www.fullers-bay-of-islands.co.nz
Dolphin Watch Marlborough http://www.dolphinwatchmarlborough.co.nz
Kapiti Alive Nature and Heritage Tours Ltd http://www.kapititours.co.nz
Kauri Country Ltd http://www.kauricountry.co.nz
Kiwi Dundee Adventures http://www.kiwidundee.co.nz
Miranda Shorebird Centre http://www.mirandashorebird.org.nz
Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre http://www.mtbruce.doc.govt.nz
Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony http://www.penguins.co.nz
Whale Watch Kaikoura Ltd http://www.whalewatch.co.nz
Taiaroa Royal Albatross Centre http://www.albatrosses.com
Penguin Place http://www.penguin-place.co.nz
Australian
Australian Conservation Foundation http://www.acfonline.org.au/
Big Volcano Ecotourism Resource Centre (Australian Ecotourism Association)
http://www.bigvolcano.com.au/ercentre
Bureau of Tourism Research: 1998 Ecotourism Conference Proceedings
http://www.btr.gov.au/conf_proc/ecotourism/ecotourism.html
Commonwealth Department of Tourism.
Various electronic publications including Best Practice Ecotourism (Australia) and Ecotourism Education
http://tourism.gov.au/publications/BPE
Department of the Environment, Sports and Territories, Australia
Two-way track: Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism
http://kaos.erin.gov.au/life/general_info/biodivser
Environment Centre Northern Territory
http://www1.octa4.net.au/ecnt
Friends of the Earth, Australia
http://www.metropolis.net.au/foe
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Best Environmental Practices
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/key_issues/tourism/best_environmental_practice.html
International Centre for Ecotourism Research, Australia
http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/icer
Queensland Environmental Tourism
http://www.tq.com.au/qep/qep.htm
World Wide Fund For Nature - Australia
http://www.wwf.org.au/master.htm
International Organisations and Ecotourism Socities
Conservation International
http://www.conservation.org
EARTHFOOT Program
http://www.earthfoot.org
ECoNETT Project Office (WTTC), London
http://www.wttc.org
The Eco-Source Network Ð a sustainable tourism site
http://www.ecosourcenetwork.com
Eco-Source Web Site
http://www.podi.com/ecosource
The Ecotourism Society (USA)
The international ecotourism organisation. The site is home to a range of articles, booklets and bibliographies. Advices, guidelines, consultation, research.
http://www.ecotourism.org
Ecuadorian Ecotourism Association
http://www.planeta.com/mader/ecotravel/south/ecuador
Hawaii Ecotourism Association
http://planet-hawaii.com/hea/url.html
Kiskeya Alternative web site (Spanish)
http://kiskeya-alternative.org
META (includes Marine Ecotourism reports)
http://www.tourism-research.org/reports/html
National Audubon Society Travel Ethic For Environmental Responsible Travel
http://www.audubon.org/market/no/ethic/
PLANETA
http://www.planeta.com
The Regional Environment Centre for Central and Eastern Europe
Includes some tourism related materials
http://www.rec.org
The Tourism and Environment Forum: Sustaining Scotland's Natural Advantage
http://www.greentourism.org.uk/
Tourism Concern: Community Tourism Directory (UK)
http://www.gn.apc.org/tourismconcern/
http://www.oneworld.org/tourconcern
http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk
UNESCO and UNESCO Environmental Education Directory
http://www.unesco.org/whc/heritage.htm
http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/environment/index.html
United Nations Environment Programme
http:// www.unepie.org/contact.html
World Conservation Union (Switzerland)
http://www.iucn.org
World Heritage Committee
http://www.unesco.org/whc
Travel Sites
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV)
http://www.btcv.org/
Escape Artist site
http://www.escapeartist.com
Gentle Earth Walking - Australia
http://ren.netconnect.com.au/~sueandon/
Green Travel
http://www.greenbuilder.com
OR
http://www.earthsystems.org/list/green-travel/
Audubon Nature Odysseys
http://www.audubon.org/market/no/
iExplore | The Site for Adventure Travel
http://www.iexplore.com/
National Parks Magazine
http://www.npca.org/magazine/currentissue.html
National Parks Conservation Association
http://www.npca.org/
Nunavut Tourism Ð Arctic
http://www.nunavut.com/tourism
Parks in Jeopardy
NPCA's 2000 List of 10 Most Endangered National Parks
http://www.npca.org/whatshot/topten.html
Planeta.com
http://www2.planeta.com/mader/ecotravel
Terraquest Site
(Virtual Antarctica site with live video links)
http:// www.terraquest.com
Travel Weekly Online
http:// www.traveler.net/two/
World Travel Guide Ð travel guide destination information
http:// www.wtgonline.com
Environmental Audit
Green Audit Kit
Perform an environmental audit on your business. This UK site has a step by step guide.
http://www.greenauditkit.org/
MacLaren, Deborah - Evaluating Ecotourism Operators and Agents
http://www2.planeta.com/mader/planeta/1196/1196agents.html