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Australian and Chinese Visitors to New Zealand – Perceptions of

Accommodation and Food and Beverage

Chris Ryan

August 2013

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Executive Summary

The analysis is based upon data provided by TIANZ and TNZ relating to Australian and

Chinese assessments of accommodation and food and beverage in New Zealand for two time

periods, 2009-9 and 2009-10.

The samples were:

Australians 2008-9 758

Australians 2009-10 976

Chinese 2008-9 127

Chinese 2009-10 150

To measure satisfaction scales of one to ten were provided with ten representing the highest

score. The scores achieved were:

N Mean Std. Deviation

Australian Perception of Accommodation 2008 758 8.57 1.32

Australian perceptions of accommodation 2010 976 8.58 1.37

Chinese perceptions of Accommodation 2008

127 8.00 1.75

Chinese perceptions of accommodation 2010 150 8.16 1.40

Australian perceptions of Food and Beverage 2008 791 8.25 1.42

Australian perception of Food and Beverage 2010 1108 8.37 1.34

Chinese perceptions of Food and Beverage 2008 128 7.92 1.72

Chinese perceptions of Food and Beverage 2010 158 7.96 1.56

In terms of dis-satisfaction, for the most part this sentiment is generally encountered where

the accommodation is found deficient, or where staff have been unhelpful. There are

potentially other issues that include perceptions of some accommodation being expensive, or

examples where amenities are thought to be less than modern or properties are in need of

refurbishment – but overall there is a sense that these are tolerated by tourists if:

a) Properties are clean;

b) Staff are friendly and helpful;

c) Their occurrences are exceptional rather than the norm

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List of Contents

Executive summary 2

Introduction 4

Statistical Analysis 7

Australians’ Assessments of Accommodation 2008-9 8

Australians’ Assessments of Accommodation 2009-10 12

Chinese Assessments of Accommodation 2008-9 15

Chinese Assessments of Accommodation 2009-10 20

Australians’ Assessments of Food and Beverage 2008-9 23

Australians’ Assessments of Food and Beverage 2009-10 26

Chinese Assessments of Food and Beverage 2008-9 27

Chinese Assessments of Food and Beverage 2009-10 28

Conclusions and Discussion 30

Appendix 33

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1.0 Introduction

1.1 This report represents an interim paper utilising data provided by Tourism

Industry Association New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand. The core of

that data relates to comments made by international visitors to New Zealand

with reference to various aspects of their trip to New Zealand; which

comments include those relating to accommodation and restaurants and

catering outlets. This report uses but part of that data to meet the needs for a

report by August 28th

2013, having been commissioned on Friday 16th

August.

It is anticipated that a fuller analysis may be required at a later date.

1.2 The report therefore draws only on two groups of tourists, namely the

Australians and Chinese, but these two nationalities represent the two largest

sources of visitors to New Zealand. Thus, for example, in June 2013

Australians accounted for 53 per cent of all visitors to New Zealand in that

month, and the Chinese accounted for 7 per cent. However the latter showed a

growth rate of over 20 per cent in a period of 12 months.

1.3 The data comprised basically two sets of information – the first being a rating

on a 10-point scale where 10 represented the highest score on the variable

being assessed (in this instance accommodation and separately, food and

beverage), and the second being a series of statements by respondents

providing reasons for the score provided. The data covered two time periods,

that from 2008-9, and 2009-10.

1.4 The sample sizes were as follows:

Australians 2008-9 758

Australians 2009-10 976

Chinese 2008-9 127

Chinese 2009-10 150

1.5 The report thus commences with first a statistical analysis of the overall scores and

second with an analysis of the comments.

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1.6 With reference to the analysis of the textual data the limited time available meant that

while broad themes were identified, a statistical breakdown of the frequency of the

themes was not possible. The analysis of the textual data were undertaken by first

reading (and translating Mandarin text), and then having to correct many grammatical

errors and misspellings to then second, identifying themes by using two pieces of

textual analysis. The software used were the packages CatPac and Leximancer.

1.7 For its part CatPac is devised based on the principles of Artificial Neural Networks

(ANN). These principles are examined by Woelfel (1993), the designer of the CatPac

program. This program he describes as:

An unsupervised neural network that is designed to read and "understand"

text. CATPAC reads any ASCII text; discards minor words such as articles,

prepositions, and the like from a prewritten exclude file; and discards

additional words that fall below an arbitrary, user-set frequency of occurrence.

For each remaining word, an artificial neuron is constructed that represents

that word. A scanning window of user-set size is then passed through the text.

Whenever a given word is in the scanning window, the neuron that represents

that word is activated (its activation value is set to 1.0). (Woelfel, 1993, p.72).

1.8 The output from this program includes counts of words and a dendogram that shows

the groupings of words that help form a theme.

1.9 Smith and Humphreys (2006, p.262) explain the principles of Leximancer thus:

A unified body of text is examined to select a ranked list of important lexical

terms on the basis of word frequency and co-occurrence usage. These terms

then seed a bootstrapping thesaurus builder, which learns a set of classifiers

from the text by iteratively extending the seed word definitions. The resulting

weighted term classifiers are then referred to as concepts. Next, the text is

classified using these concepts at a high resolution, which is normally every

three sentences. This produces a concept index for the text and a concept co-

occurrence matrix. By calculating the relative co-occurrence frequencies of the

concepts, an asymmetric co-occurrence matrix is obtained. This matrix is used

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to produce a two-dimensional concept map via a novel emergent clustering

algorithm. The connectedness of each concept in this semantic network is

employed to generate a third hierarchical dimension, which displays the more

general parent concepts at the higher levels.

1.10 Such programs have been commonly used in many areas of research by researchers

using text based materials, whether secondary documentation or transcribed materials.

For example Lockyer (2005), Stepchenkova and Morrison (2006), and Ryan and Cave

(2005) among many others used CatPac to assess destination image and people’s

perceptions of the role of cleanliness in hotel selection. Leximancer was used by

Darcy and Pegg (2011) to assess hotel managers’ perceptions of services for those

with disabilities, while Ho et al. (2012) discusses the use of such programs more

widely in the context of text mining and web 2.0. Other similar programs like NVivo

and Atlas ti have also been extensively used. The use of this software in this report

therefore follows a conventional form of analysis among those who use such

approaches.

1.11 The first stages in the analysis comprised a reading and re-reading of the total text and

two processes were initially undertaken. The first comprised identification of themes

and discussion between the authors, and the second represented a paring down of the

text to the core themes by a simplification of the text. This process of simplification

required a number of stages that included:

a) Standardization of the text by using the singular or plural consistently unless it

was thought a distinction was being made in the main text that required a

distinction to be made;

b) Standardization of text through examining the tense of verbs, adverbs and

adjectives, and the presence of active or passive voice in statements. Again

distinctions were retained when they supported different themes.

c) Identification of the negative and positive with reference to themes. In a sense

this represents an evaluation of a theme, or perhaps in some instances a

description. For example the text may refer to ‘good food’ or ‘good service’

while another illustration of the themes of ‘food’ and ‘service’ might refer to

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‘poor food’ or ‘poor service’. Thus the ‘dominant themes’ of food and service

can possess both a positive and a negative evaluation – but both aspects

reinforce the importance of ‘food’ and ‘service’ as a key component in tourist

evaluations of their experiences.

1.12 In the following graphs and diagrams it will be noted that several words such as

‘hotels’, and ‘restaurants’ appear in both the singular and the plural – and this

indicates a distinction between a respondents talking about hotels in general such as in

the statement ‘I found all the hotels to be of a good standard’ and then commenting

about a specific hotel such as saying ‘I found the xxx hotel to be particularly poor for

the money I paid’. The text was carefully examined as noted above and thus these

distinctions were retained to aid subsequent analysis.

2.0 The Statistical Analysis

2.1 Table one shows the scores provided by the respondents by year, nationality and

variable. It can be noted that the overall mean scores tended to high and the

distributions are skewed toward the higher ends of the scales. The actually

frequencies of the scores and the associated histograms showing an imposed

distribution curve are appended in Appendix One.

Table One Mean Scores and Distributions for the Samples

Nationality Year Variable Mean Std

Dev

Skew Kurtosis

Australians 2008-9 Accommodation 8.57 1.37 -1.031 1.327

2009-10 Accommodation 8.58 1.37 -1.262 2.813

2008-9 Food & Beverage 8.25 1.42 -0.781 0.812

2009-10 Food & Beverage 8.58 1.37 -1.262 2.813

Chinese 2008-9 Accommodation 8.01 1.75 -1.324 2.439

2009-10 Accommodation 8.16 1.41 -0.789 0.471

2008-9 Food & Beverage 7.92 1.73 -0.705 0.302

2009-10 Food & Beverage 7.96 1.56 -0.984 2.065

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2.2 Given the lack of time and the other as yet un-used data existing, it is envisaged that a

final report can provide a testing of the statistical difference between various national

groupings and the consistency of their responses.

3.0 Australians’ Assessments of Accommodation in 2008-9

3.1 Reading the text indicated the existence of themes based around the cleanliness of

accommodation, the friendliness of hosts, the comfort and facilities of rooms, and

value for money, leading to a conclusion that dissatisfaction arises when faults are

found in the above list of items. The presence of each of these factors contribute to

assessments that the accommodation is ‘good’. Location is secondary in the

assessments for while the destination is the place visited, each destination tends to

offer a choice of accommodation, and thus the assessment of accommodation is based

upon the quality of service offered at the selected hotel, motel or holiday park. It is

this assessment that lead people to conclude whether accommodation represented

good value for money. These three named forms of accommodation accounted for

most of the references and although a count remains to be done it would seem that

motels account for most of the entries, followed by hotels, then camp grounds –

particularly those of the top 10 holiday parks, followed by staying with friends and

relatives.

3.2 The most commonly used descriptors are shown in Figure One which is derived from

the output generated by CatPac. It will be noted that associated with the core product

of clean and comfortable rooms are many expressions that relate to the friendliness of

staff. Indicative statements would include:

‘I was made to feel welcome and friendly caring staff assisting with any

requests promptly’

(The accommodation was) clean and comfortable and the proprietors helpful,

hospitable and friendly. Most of the motels were more than helpful, facilities

were adequate and we enjoyed our stay.

Equally the absence of helpful staff, even if accounted only once during the stay,

seemed to evoke negative evaluations. Hence:

Motels were clean and tidy, with good heating, sufficient bedding including

pillows. One had a smell from the previous tenants, and at another reception

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staff were not overly helpful. Otherwise all motels were very good." And

again:

Two hotels and one apartment were generally good; XXX apartment in

Auckland was comfortable, but staff seemed sometimes out of their depth and

parking arrangements were totally unsatisfactory

3.3 However, comments about a lack of help from staff were rare, and indeed such was

the performance of staff that respondents provided comments that indicated that such

was the friendliness of the service they would overlook what was regarded as ‘tired’

furnishings or otherwise deficient accommodation.

Figure One Most common words

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3.4 While the majority of statements relating to accommodation were positive as

indicated by the high mean score on this item, there was little doubt that a number of

informants would come across some accommodation that they felt to be poor, or if not

poor, somewhat basic for the prices they were paying. Examples of such statements

include:

The staff and owners were displaying a high standard of service and were

prepared to go beyond the call of duty when a situation required such an event.

… it was close to everything, clean and relatively cheap. With friendly staff.

It was because of very good service even though the hotel needs some

attraction/refurbishments. Staff were so nice and efficient.

3.5 Support for the themes found through interpreting the text was found in the following

diagrams generated by the software.

Figure Two Word Map of Themes

3.6 Figure Two indicates a word map derived from Leximancer and the interpretation of

such maps is based on the size of words and their proximity to each other, and the

colour rating. Those colours that are oriented toward shades of red are ‘warm’ and

‘positive’ while those words that are oriented toward blue represent rather more

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negative sentiments. It can be seen that (perhaps not surprisingly, given the question)

that accommodation is important, and its shading represents the overall positive

comments made about accommodation and facilities in New Zealand. Red comments

show the overall satisfaction found with cleanliness and the friendliness of staff. As

noted – where these were absent, they were sources of dissatisfaction and drew

specific comments about individual motels or hotels.

3.7 Among the negative features of rooms that were general as distinct from the

occasional smelly, or messy room, was the comment that today there should be

efficient wif-fi and preferably free wi-fi services – but only 3 respondents made such

comments. It will be noted in the Figure that the ‘parks’ are in mauve – indicating

some tendency toward the lower end of the scale. In most instances this set of

comments refer to the holiday parks, and it must be emphasised that most comments

were positive, and some individual parks drew high praise. However, two factors

support the ‘cooler’ nature of the comments, and these related to (a) the somewhat

variable standard found between the different caravan and holiday parks, and (b) a

sentiment expressed by some that the parks tended to be a little expensive for what

was on offer. For example, among these comments were:

The gardens and general surrounds of parks are not as nice as we have in

Australia. It is a little disappointing to go into a park and just park on a spot

next to another vehicle. There was often not a lot of space between vans.

Amenities were generally excellent in kitchens etc. but showers were a little

shabby at times.

Only a few parks had less than good amenities, but in general, they were all

quite good.

Most of the caravan parks we stayed at were fine, but one on the East coast on

the way to Marlborough wasn't much good.

3.8 The dendogram generated by CatPac is shown in Figure Three and this tends to

support the above interpretation with the left hand side of the diagram emphasising

the importance and connectedness of the main themes of clean accommodation and

helpful and friendly staff leading to good experiences and in many cases ratings of

excellence.

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Figure Three Australian 2008-9 Perceptions of Accommodation.

4.0 Australians’ Assessments of Accommodation in 2009-10

4.1 A similar process of analysis was conducted on the 2009-2010 data set and it can be

seen that Figure Four that the same pattern of words dominating the responses.

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Figure Four Australian assessments of accommodation 2009-2010

4.2 The following comments offer a summarisation of what many respondents felt.

The hotel lived up to its reputation. The room was well presented; staff both

on the front desk and also housekeeping were friendly and knowledgeable and

assisted me when I required help. Nothing seemed too much trouble for them.

Our accommodation was comfortable, clean, and warm, with pleasant, helpful

staff, provided good food, and were conveniently located in the areas we

visited in the southern half of the South Island.

4.3 Pleasing as these comments are there are however a few notes of warning that begin

to emerge, and one issue relates to motels found in the Auckland area, particularly it

seems around the Airport. The following indicate some of these comments:

Motel xxxx in Auckland very substandard in both quality of room and staff

every other motel very good and good staff.

I stayed at both Christchurch and Auckland. The service and accommodation

facilities in Christchurch were fabulous (xxxx Hotel). Though the

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accommodation in Auckland were still good, but not fantastic as there were

stains on the carpet and cramped accommodation (xxx hotel).

4.4 Not that problems were confined to Auckland. Thus:

See previous comments - there was no standard amongst B&B and Homestay

operators, only run down facilities and DIY renovations, yet still considered

themselves ""luxury"". Many were for sale.

Motels were better - at least the room was decent and clean. The cheaper

motel in Rotorua had dangerous electrical faults (switches falling apart) and

plumbing threatening to flood the room. Toilet pipes held together with tape

with a container underneath to drip into - which was full! No drain in the

bathroom meant a flood was result. Money grabbing owner prowling the car

park in the morning was not a good look either.

4.5 The last comment does however, stick out, and as generally as indicated by the overall

mean score, the ratings remained high. Indeed, in 2009-10, 80.7 per cent of the

respondents scored 8 and above for their accommodation, equivalent to 2008-9 when

80.6 per cent so scored.

4.6 In this regard Figure Five reinforces the findings of the 2008-9 data and indicates that

the friendliness of staff remain a significant asset for accommodation, while the

accommodation itself retains generally high ratings although, as previously noted

comments are made about some accommodation being more basic than was thought

necessary, being in need of refurbishment and being expensive for what it is.

Comparisons are made with Australia, generally, but not always favourably. Minor

items emerge – such as the lack of space for car parking, the lack of free wi-fi and the

outmoded and poor condition of some of the hardware supplied for use in some of the

kitchen units for cooking purposes. In some instances there was an adverse comment

about the lack of a microwave cooker, or the want of a working microwave cooker.

4.7 Cleanliness and service are generally favourable commented upon and are important,

but the colouring of the chart indicates the existence of critical comment when tourists

feel these to be missing or below the standard they expect. The variation of the

standard found in motels was also a negative factor, and a handful of respondents

queried the usefulness of the Qualmark brand, feeling that it over-stated the star value

of the property in question.

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4.8 It is important to note that while causes of dissatisfaction relate to the absence of those

factors that generate satisfaction, the less satisfactory occasions are relatively few in

number, and tend to be mentioned often because they are the exception rather than the

rule. Indeed it might be argued that properties are named by respondents not so much

in a spirit of being purely negative, but rather in the attempt to ensure that the

properties in question can improve to meet the generally high standard set by New

Zealand’s hotels, motels and camp grounds.

Figure Five Word Map of Australian Perceptions of Accommodation 2009-2010

5.0 Chinese Assessments of Accommodation 2008-9

5.1 As noted in Table One, Chinese visitors tend to score only marginally lower than their

Australian counterparts with a mean score of 8.0. Indeed 65 per cent of the Chinese

sample scored 8 and above on the 10-point scale rating accommodation.

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5.2 It is however evident in Figure Six that a major difference exists between the Chinese

tourists and the Australian tourists in their evaluation of accommodation, and that is

the absence of words that relate to friendliness. The comments are very much directed

toward the conditions and amenities of the hotels.

Figure Six Chinese Descriptors of Accommodation 2008-9.

5.3 For example, the comments tended to be both supportive with praise, but also critical

in a number of cases. Such comments included:

The lodging in New Zealand is very clean and convenient. I can cook in the

lodging easily. But I hope the price of lodging should be lower.

The hotel was decorated with features, had good service, and was warm.

The room was clean, comfortable, but the room’s electrical systems were

relatively old.

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The New Zealand accommodation environment is very clean and tidy, and

service is very attentive, but the hardware needs to be upgraded.

The facilities were in perfect condition - very comfortable.

Generally quite good & clean in the South Island but so many crappy ones in

Wellington and Auckland

Some of the accommodation were great and beyond my expectation, while

some were below average. Sometimes the description was not consistent with

the real condition, which made me difficult to decide where to stay.

5.4 The Chinese do differ from Australians in their assessments, yet tend to score

almost as highly as the Australians. There are a number of comments that can be

made about why such results arise. These include:

Chinese culture is in part about mianzi or face, and it is not polite to make

critical comments about a host.

Australians did cite the advantage of their dollar being higher than that of the

New Zealand dollar, and thus felt that prices in New Zealand tended to be

lower and at worse, acceptable. Chinese tourists were facing what for them

was a high New Zealand dollar, and thus they tend to be more price sensitive.

Chinese tourists are less likely to be free independent tourists (FIT) and can be

classified as existing on a continuum from low priced shopping package

tourists to quality package tours to free independent tourists. Those on

shopping tours are more likely to stay in lower priced accommodation and

hence more likely to come across some of the issues referred to above.

5.5 With reference to specific points comparisons were made with hotels in other

countries, including China. It was thus noted that beds were small compared to those

in China, the amenities were not so modern as many had expected, but on the other

hand a double bed room with four bedspaces made a four-star hotel reasonable in

price per person, while many enjoyed the facility of a small kitchen area in motels as

this is uncommon in China, and it permitted self-catering that helped to save money.

It can also be noted that Chinese tend to like a firm mattress and it is suggested that

this may lie behind comments of being ‘uncomfortable’.

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5.6 Figure Seven notes the word map generated by Leximancer, and again, like the

Australians, the Chinese appreciate the cleanliness of the accommodation being

provided. That the accommodation is comfortable is generally recognised, but the

types of comments noted above pull it into a ‘cooler zone’ and there is an association

with the word ‘poor’. Services are noted a ‘blueish’ context and this seems to be

related to the issue of poorer support amenities.

Figure Seven Word Map of Chinese views of Accommodation – 2008-9.

5.7 This interpretation of the Chinese assessments is supported by the analysis derived

from CatPac and the dendogram created by that software. That dendogram is

reproduced as Figure Eight and it shows on the left hand side of the chart the

modifying words of ‘generally’ and ‘relatively’ in association with poor, implying as

stated above, that while satisfaction is present, it is a slight reserved support as

Chinese tourists come into contact with some of the lower standard accommodation if

on shopping tours. ‘Price’ is also noted for the reasons of price sensitivity noted above.

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5.8 The right hand side of Figure Eight represents the more positive aspects of ‘good’,

‘clean’ and ‘comfortable facilities’, while the centre indicates a scattering of words

that relate, for example, to kitchen hardware.

Figure Eight

Dendogram of Chinese Visitors’ Perceptions of Accommodation 2008-9

5.9 One minor point here does relate to translation. The characters 硬件 have been

translated as ‘hardware’, but additionally 金属制品 can also be translated in the same

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manner, but referring to metal objects. Equally Chinese like hotels with ‘impressive’

public areas and under certain circumstances this might be seen as part of the ‘ware’

or product of the hotel.

5.10 Overall though the scores are favourable with reference to accommodation and

highlight many of the same characteristics as the Australians. However the

‘friendliness’ of New Zealanders as hosts is more muted as a concept, perhaps

because of language issues, although only one respondent specifically referred to a

lack of linguistic skills, and this was of Cantonese. Two militating factors can also be

noted, namely (a) in interpreting the score one must be aware of a relative

unwillingness to criticize and (b) the Chinese sample is thought to be less

homogenous than their Australian counterparts in terms of travel patterns with, for

example, shopping tours being more oriented to North Island.

6.0 Chinese Assessments of Accommodation 2009-10

6.1 When the list of descriptors for 2009-2010 is looked at (see Figure Nine), it can be

found that similarities exist with those of 2008-9. The cleanliness of accommodation

emerges as being both important and appreciated by Chinese tourists. The overall

experience is seen as positive (as indicated by a mean score of 8.1) yet there are again

comments about some poorly furnished and basic accommodation, and some older

amenities to be found in some accommodation. Again comments are to be found

about the mixed quality of the provision of accommodation, although it is recognized

that the overall standard is high. Price sensitivity is also an issue, and tends to emerge

more strongly than in 2008-9, reflecting possibly the increase in the New Zealand

dollar over the period.

6.2 With reference to comments about expense, a number of comments illustrate that

while the Chinese are not being deterred by price, nonetheless in 2009-10 there did

seem to be a little more concern about value for money. Thus comments included:

Expensive prices even if accommodation is generally good.

Accommodation is OK, but the price of some is expensive.

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Homestay is also good, but a little expensive.

European countries, represent more economic prices, better style and services

made me feel at ease and satisfied.

6.3 Nonetheless it is suggested that the reasons listed in section 5.4 remain true in the

later year of 2009-10.

Figure Nine Descriptors of Chinese Assessments of Accommodation 2009-2010

6.4 For the completeness of the record, the Leximancer software generated similar

patterns and comments as is briefly noted in the Figures below.

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Figures Ten and Eleven Chinese Assessments of Accommodation 2009-2010

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7.0 Australians’ Assessment of Food and Beverage 2008-9

7.1 In this instance approximately 73 per cent of Australian provided scores of 8 and

above in their assessments of Food and Beverage in New Zealand. Figure Twelve

derived from the word counts indicate the dominance of words such as ’good’, ‘great’,

‘excellent’ and ‘fresh’.

Figure Twelve Australian Assessments of Food and Beverage 2008-9

7.2 Examples of such comments include:

Even when I was meeting up with friends somewhere I hadn't been before the standard

of service and quality of food is MUCH nicer than can be found in Melbourne.

Overall most of the cafe/restaurants had excellent food and service with the exception

of a couple.

All the food was extremely delicious and the staff very friendly and polite

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Great service, fantastic food and value for money

Presentation of meals was excellent, experienced different flavour combinations.

Everywhere we went staff polite, helpful and informative.

We were never disappointed with any meal.

7.3 As with issues of accommodation, some exceptions to the generally high quality of

food, service and value for money were found, and these seem to have been issues of

staff responses – such as the example of being refused just a coffee because a

breakfast was not ordered, or the comment that staff could be taught how to smile at

one location.

7.4 There were 113 uses of the word ‘expensive’ and this was examined within the data

sets. The overall impression is that Australians do find the price of food more

expensive than that to which they are accustomed, and even the supermarket prices

are thought more expensive. To a small degree this is offset a little by some comments

that the quality is better, but nonetheless, even allowing for the strength of the

Australian dollar the impression remains that for Australians eating out, especially in

the more upmarket restaurants is regarded as expensive.

7.5 This conclusion was supported by the analysis derived from the dendogram generated

by CatPac and the perceptual map derived from Leximancer. In the dendogram

shown as Figure thirteen one finds the cluster ‘good food, quality, excellence and

restaurants’ incorporate the term ‘expensive’. Equally staff are ‘friendly’ and

Australians will call New Zealand wines ‘generally quite reasonable’!

7.6 Figure fourteen reproduces the perceptual map generated by Leximancer and again

the same themes dominate the analysis. As before the distinction between the words

‘experience’ and ‘experiences’ is that the latter refers to the general assessment while

the former refers to a specific outlet. There also appears to be two substitution effects

occurring because of perceptions of meals being expensive, and these are:

a) A willingness to patronise cafes because the quality of food and

service is thought to be high, and hence restaurants are losing some

trade to the cafes; and

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Figure Thirteen Dendogram of Australian Perceptions of Food and Beverage 2008-9

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Figure Fourteen

Perceptual Map of Australian Perceptions of Food and Beverage 2009-9

b) There is some substitution for cafes at times by tourists going to supermarkets

to self-cater. This is of course possible if using motel accommodation, while

in other instances it could be associated with picnicking.

8.0 Australians’ Assessments of Food and Beverage 2009-10

8.1 In this second year for which there are data the overall assessment of food and

beverage increases from 8.25 to almost 8.6, and those scoring 8.0 and above now form 76 per

cent of the sample. The count of words provided by CatPac for this year is almost identical

to that of 2008-9; many of the same types of comments found in 2008-9 emerge again in

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2009-10. Given this similarity, in this year closer examination were given to the negative

comments, and these included:

I’m in hospitality, so super critical of lax service, a lot of cafe food is

overpriced, service patchy, exceptions here and there of course. Mostly do my

own food, and supermarkets are vile places to be in, sadly that’s where the

food is though. Buy from common sense organics, farmers markets where

available.

Loved pub meals; cafe food was ok and restaurant less than average; the

waiters were quite rude. When returning to New Zealand will stick to the pub

meals; the service and bar staff were excellent.

High price in Wellington restaurant with only average food. Moderate price

paid in Te Anau for excellent food.

The food and service is ok, but it is quite expensive for what you get - even

compared to Australia where wage rates are generally higher

8.2 In conclusion, the same conclusions can be drawn, namely that overall there are high

levels of satisfaction, but there is an impression that prices are high, that exceptions to

the generally high standards are experienced, and that restaurants may represent an

expensive option when compared to cafes.

9.0 Chinese Assessments of Food and Beverage 2008-9

9.1 It was earlier noted that the Chinese market is influenced by the existence of the

shopping tours, and this too is evident in some of the comments made respondents.

For example:

… because we are into travel agency with a Chinese restaurant, the food is of

poor quality, bad service.

(Being in a group tour) there were excessively reduced costs, resulting in

group meals and humble, poor food and I failed to contact with local New

Zealand cuisine!

9.2 Because of this phenomenon and the tendency for these packaged tours to use Chinese

restaurants, there are a number of comments directed at the nature of food being served

in New Zealand’s Chinese restaurants, including, for example:

… since the choices are Chinese restaurants, I can say it leaves a bad taste and

the food is not authentic, thought this may be a matter of taste.

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…you can't expect a 10 mark for Chinese food in New Zealand!

9.3 This is not to say that all respondents thought it a bad thing to dine at Chinese

restaurants as some commented that Western cuisine was not their liking, and hence

while the Chinese food was not to the standard they were used too, it was nonetheless

appreciated that they could obtain Chinese food easily.

9.4 There were Chinese tourists who were enthusiastic about the quality of food offered

by New Zealand cafes and restaurants, and hence comments included:

I only cared whether the food is clean and fresh, and New Zealand does this

well.

Great wine; especially the whites! We ate too much!

Healthy, delicious and real benefits.

A good service and reasonable prices

… clean, healthy, and assured food quality.

9.5 Figure Fifteen replicates the list of key words found in the text and it has a similarity

to that generated by Australia informants – namely the food is generally perceived as

being fresh and of good quality. This is also evidenced by perceptual map shown in

Figure Sixteen. Again it can be noted that price emerges as a factor, but as previously

noted, it is thought that this is in part because of the heterogeneous nature of the

Chinese market for New Zealand.

10.0 Chinese Assessments of Food and Beverage 2009-10

10.1 Again it must be noted that levels of assessment are again high at 7.9 overall, with 65.8

of the sample scoring 8.0 and above. Indeed the descriptors and the maps tend to mirror

those for 2008-9. However some nuanced differences did emerge. One related to sea

food. The Chinese are used to being offered a whole steamed fish, and thus the

conventional New Zealand modes of presentation with fillets of fish is one that some

informants found to be ‘different’. Hence one respondent commented

29

Figure Fifteen

Descriptors for Chinese Assessments of Food and Beverage 2008-9

Figure Sixteen

Perceptual Map of Chinese Assessments of Food and Beverage 2008-9

30

NZ food is mixed with lots (of cuisines from) other countries, I can't find

a ‘special thing’, and I can't find some live seafood, and seafood are so

expensive, I don’t understand why we can't get nice and live sea food in NZ.

And one comment simply said:

Fish is an issue (but why is not stated).

10.2 Another nuance that can be identified is that New Zealand is also being recognised for

‘great coffee’.

11.0 Conclusions and discussions.

11.1 In terms of overall levels of satisfaction, these tend to be high with in almost every

case at least 60 per cent of respondents rating their assessments as being over 8 on a

10 point scale where 10 represents the maximum score. Two features stand out in the

assessments of accommodation by both groups of informants over both years, and that

is the standards of cleanliness and hygiene are high, and that these standards are

important to informants is implied by the very frequency of mentions. The second is

that staff are found to be helpful for both groups, and Australians rate staff highly as

being friendly. Overall the levels of accommodation are found to be high, but perhaps

almost invariably, tourists do encounter some exceptions.

11.2 In terms of dis-satisfaction, for the most part this sentiment is generally encountered

where the accommodation is found deficient, or where staff have been unhelpful.

There are potentially other issues that include perceptions of some accommodation

being expensive, or examples where amenities are thought to be less than modern or

properties are in need of refurbishment – but overall there is a sense that these are

tolerated by tourists if:

a) properties are clean;

b) staff are friendly and helpful;

c) their occurrences are exceptional rather than the norm

31

11.3 There is a view on the part of many that accommodation does tend to be expensive in

some instances for what is on offer, but equally what is very rarely being stated is a

view that the accommodation is a ‘rip off’. There is perhaps an appreciation that,

simply put, prices are reflecting the current high value of the dollar. This seems to be

true even for some Australians who have also enjoyed a high dollar – and this is

particularly the case for food and beverage services and food prices in supermarkets.

11.4 While prices were thought to be high by some – it appears those expressing these

views are in a minority (a subsequent analysis will better quantify how large this

minority is, but an intuitive feeling would be that it represents about one-third of

respondents in both instances). Equally, however, the quality of the food and service

is helping to sustain the perceived high prices and again there are few examples of

people feeling overly aggrieved or taken advantage of. As always though, exceptions

exist to any generalised statement, and food and beverage share similar qualities to

those of accommodation – namely if the food is thought to be poor, and the service is

also thought poor, then a price that would be accepted if food or service is good, now

becomes too high and value for money is simply not being provided. Hence again

dissatisfaction is a result of the deficiencies in quality and service.

11.5 Another aspect of the tourism product is that tourists are able to engage in substitution

strategies, and that is evident in both cases of accommodation and food and beverage.

Tourists will happily switch motels for hotels if hotels are perceived as too expensive

because:

a) Motels offer generally high standards of accommodation; and

b) Offer the option of self-catering.

In this sense it can be observed that generally holiday parks are not being seen as

cheaper alternatives to motels, but as having a distinctly different experience offer.

This is true for the Australian market – there is little evidence of Chinese tourists

using holiday parks.

11.6 One facet in understanding the scores of the Chinese respondents is that very different

market segments co-exist, and it is suggested that a continuum exists between

shopping tours at one end and FITs at the other. Equally, in the case of some

Australian tourists, one segment that provides a slightly different pattern of responses

32

is the VFR sector. As one Australian informant wrote about food and beverage – the

purpose of my holiday is to see Mum, and Mum’s cooking is great!

11.7 In terms of any specific recommendations it can be noted that:

a) Some motels especially in Auckland and to a lesser degree in Wellington do

require refurbishment, especially perhaps some of the motels in the vicinity of

Auckland airport;

b) Some motels could upgrade the pots and pans being made available for guests,

and microwave ovens are expected as a standard provision;

c) The standard of food being provided by many Chinese restaurants is thought

to be deficient on the part of some Chinese tourist. Historically many Chinese

restaurants in New Zealand are actually Cantonese, and there are differences

in cuisine between Shanghai and Beijing on the one hand and the south of

China on the other, and hence there is a need for some greater variety of

regional cuisines.

11.8 Of interest is what has not emerged in this analysis, and that is on the part of the

Chinese, few have commented about an absence of Mandarin speaking skills. Various

reasons may account for this – the lower cost tours and indeed ‘quality tours’ are

accompanied by English speaking tour guides, and second, given the size of its

population, it could be claimed that China is the country with the highest numbers of

English speakers in the world. The FIT market tends to be well educated and of above

average income, and hence given that much post-graduate education is in English,

many of the FIT tourists will be English speaking.

11.9 Finally, it should be noted that this report was written within a time restraint that

means that further sets of data remain to be analysed. It can be stated that if this report

is thought sufficient, such further analysis can be undertaken of other national

groupings, thereby permitting greater comparisons.

33

Appendices

Histograms for overall scores

Australian Assessments of Accommodation 2008-9

VAR00001

10.09.08.07.06.05.04.03.02.0

300

200

100

0

Std. Dev = 1.33

Mean = 8.6

N = 758.00

Statistic Mean Std Dev Statistic Statistic

Australian Perception of

Accommodation 2008

758 8.5712 1.32731 -1.031 1.327

Australian Assessments of Accommodation 2009-10

Australian perceptions of accommodation 2010

10.08.06.04.02.0

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Std. Dev = 1.37

Mean = 8.6

N = 976.00

Number Mean Std Dev Skew Kurtosis

Australian perceptions of accommodation 2010 976 8.5840 1.37117 -1.262 2.813

34

Chinese Assessments of Accommodation 2008-9

VAR00002

10.08.06.04.02.0

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Std. Dev = 1.75

Mean = 8.0

N = 127.00

No Mean Std Dev Skew Kurtosis

Chinese assessments of hotels 2008 127 8.0079 1.75253 -1.324 2.439

Chinese Assessments of Accommodation 2009-10

Chinese perceptions of accommodation 2010

10.09.08.07.06.05.04.0

50

40

30

20

10

0

Std. Dev = 1.41

Mean = 8.2

N = 150.00

Number Mean Std Dev Skew Kurtosis

Chinese perceptions of accommodation 2010 150 8.1600 1.40507 -0.789 0.471

35

Australian Assessments of Food and Beverage 2008-9

Australian perceptions of Food and Beverage 2008

10.09.08.07.06.05.04.03.02.0

300

200

100

0

Std. Dev = 1.42

Mean = 8.3

N = 791.00

Number Mean Std Dev Skew Kurtosis

Australian perceptions of Food and Beverage 2008 791 8.2503 1.42244 -0.781 0.812

Australian Assessments of Food and Beverage 2009-10

Australian perception of F&B 2010

10.08.06.04.02.0

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Std. Dev = 1.35

Mean = 8.4

N = 1108.00

Statistic Mean Std Dev Skew Kurtosis

Australian perceptions of accommodation 2010 976 8.5840 1.37117 -1.262 2.813

36

Chinese Assessments of food and beverage 2008-9

N Mean Std.

Deviation

Skew Kurtosis

Chinese perceptions of

Food and Beverage 2008

128 7.9219 1.72800 -.705 .302

Chinese Assessments of food and beverage 2009-10

Chinese perceptions of F&B 2010

10.08.06.04.02.0

80

60

40

20

0

Std. Dev = 1.56

Mean = 8.0

N = 158.00

Number Mean Std Dev Skew Kurtosis

Chinese perceptions of F&B 2010 158 7.9684 1.56156 -0.984 2.065