Context

The purpose of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s 13 National Parks is to preserve in perpetuity, both for their intrinsic worth and for the benefit, use and enjoyment of the public, those parts of the country that “ … contain scenery of such distinctive quality, ecological systems, or natural features so beautiful, unique, or scientifically important that their preservation is in the national interest.” (National Parks Act 1980).

The extraordinary qualities of national parks attract increasingly large numbers of visitors, both national and international, and as such are a focus of the New Zealand tourism sector. Approximately 3.2 million international visitors aged 15 and over currently visit New Zealand each year, of whom 1.7 million visit national parks, according to the International Visitor Survey (IVS). In addition, approximately 40% of New Zealanders aged 18 and over also visit national parks, according to, equating to around 1.2 million people (DOC ‘Survey of New Zealanders’ 2016).

Key findings

Trends across all national parks (year ending June, 2017)

International visitor numbers to New Zealand have been growing apace over the last few years.
53% of international visitors recorded visits to national parks.
The annual growth rate (from 2014-17) of international visitors to national parks is 11%.
Growth rates of visitor numbers to New Zealand may have been higher amongst those who visited at least one national park (Figure 1).
The growth rate for non-national park visitors is 6%, but it is not possible to distinguish as significantly different from 0, nor from rate of growth for national park visitors.

Figure 1. Quarterly counts of international visitors who did and did not visit a national park.

The growth patterns are separated into key country groups, in Figure 2.

Growth is apparent amongst most groups. Initial modelling indicates that growth is clearly high for national park visitors from many country groups. National park growth rates per year are high for visitors from China (32%), the rest of Asia (19%) North America (17%), Germany (16%), and for the rest of Europe (12%). The Australian and UK national park growth rates are not significant but “Other Countries” is at 13%.

Figure 2. Quarterly counts of international visitors who did and did not visit a national park by selected country groups.

Trends in individual national parks (year ending June, 2017)

International visitor numbers vary a lot between national parks, with Fiordland standing out as having high levels of visitation (Figure 3).
Some of the parks with lowest visitation have high growth rates - Rakiura (42%), Nelson Lakes (29%), Kahurangi (26%), along with Whanganui (11%).
Two of the most visited parks also have high growth rates - Aoraki/Mt Cook (15%) and Fiordland (16%).
The other national parks also have estimates showing positive growth, but not clearly distinguishable from no growth in terms of statistical significance at this time.

Figure 3. International visitors by national park.

Definitions and methodology

The International Visitor Survey (IVS) is conducted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to provide accurate, quarterly national information on the characteristics, behaviour and expenditure of international visitors. The IVS uses a two-part collection process:

Screening departing visitors during the selected time periods for eligibility and collecting email addresses.
On-line survey, via a link sent to those eligible and agreeing to participate.

Data quality

This report uses data from the IVS Key Data Tables for the year ended June, 2017. The IVS is a sample survey of approximately 9,800 departing international visitors to New Zealand aged 15 years or older per year (excluding individuals whose purpose of visit to New Zealand was to attend a recognised educational institute, and are foreign-fee paying students).

The results from the IVS are subject to measurement errors, including both sampling and non-sampling errors. Each respondent within the sample is weighted to represent their fraction of the total number of all international visitors departing New Zealand within the survey’s target population.

Relevance

This report relates to the following ‘Outcomes Monitoring Framework’ (OMF) Indicator and Measures for ‘Intermediate Outcome 3: New Zealanders and our visitors are enriched by outdoor experiences’:

Indicator 3.1.3: National recreation & tourism trends.
- Measure 3.1.3.1: Profile of international visitation to New Zealand: Origin, number, length of stay, activities, trends, etc.

Outcomes Monitoring Framework

The Department of Conservation’s (DOC) Outcomes Monitoring Framework (OMF) provides a platform on which DOC and others can assess outcomes in a clear, structured and transparent way (Lee et al., 2005). It has been developed as a logical hierarchy that is based on broad, overarching Outcomes, beneath which are nested Outcome Objectives, Indicators, Measures and Data Elements to provide ever-increasing levels of detail. The framework is scalable, as the indicators and measures remain compatible and consistent whether applied locally, regionally or nationally.

Recently updated and expanded, the OMF provides a roadmap for gathering information to meet the specific objectives of DOC and other agencies (McGlone and Dalley, 2015).

The provision of a national framework with agreed outcomes, indicators and measures supports collaboration with national and regional land management and regulatory agencies, as well as other stakeholder groups. This enables more integrated policy development and status reporting.

DOC has partially implemented a national monitoring and reporting system, whereby priority ‘Indicators’ and ‘Measures’ selected from the OMF are routinely used to report on progress against DOC’s stated objectives and outcomes. This factsheet reports on a measure for the 2016/2017 year.

References

McGlone, M., Dalley, J., 2015. A framework for Department of Conservation inventory and monitoring: Intermediate outcomes 1-5. Landcare Research Contract Report LC2427 (unpublished) for the Department of Conservation, Wellington.

National recreation and tourism trends

Strong growth in international visitors experiencing National Parks