A situational analysis and assessment of the development potential of the Russian tourist market to New Zealand

Abstract

Russia is one of the fastest growing emerging tourist markets in the world. However, while substantial academic effort has been put into studying other tourist markets, it appears that still very little is known of the intentions and activities of the Russian outbound travel market. Drawing upon the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this research has concentrated on New Zealand as the target destination for Russian travellers. Methodologically, with a set of convenience samples, the multiple approaches to this study have provided both theoretical and grounded perspectives on the Russian outbound travel market. A total of 117 completed questionnaires have been collected from two Russian travel companies, one each in Moscow and Ekaterinburg. The relevant issues have also been interpreted from a more exploratory/inductive approach using ten qualitative interviews with Russian visitors in New Zealand. An application of TPB has revealed that potential Russian visitors’ intentions and the likelihood to travel to New Zealand are not very high. As assessed by TPB, despite very favourable attitudes towards visiting New Zealand, subjective normative influences are the only statistically significant predictors of the intentions of Russian travellers to visit this country. Similarly, attitude is not a significant predictor of the likelihood to travel to New Zealand. However, as revealed by TPB, both behavioural control and subjective norms do predict the likelihood of Russian people travelling to New Zealand. While travelling overseas, Russians seek beautiful scenery, beaches, national parks, personal safety, friendliness of locals and a relaxing atmosphere. Nevertheless, the majority of respondents do not indicate that New Zealand would be an ideal travel destination. This study has found that the perception of the presence in New Zealand of highly valued destination features falls short of the respondents’ expectations. The latter finding is largely attributed to the lack of knowledge of New Zealand. It has also emerged that such information sources as the Internet (both Russian and international sites) and word-of-mouth, as well as social networking websites and travel agents, play the most important role in forming an image of a destination for the analysed travel market. New Zealand is a long-haul destination for Russian travellers. Therefore, it is challenging to attract large numbers of tourists from Russia to New Zealand. However, the research has identified a potential for developing a niche Russian travel market to New Zealand. There are several segments among travellers in Russia who have above average disposable incomes, who are experienced in long-haul travel and who are willing to explore more countries. Additionally, there are travellers with average incomes who save money to travel to such “dream destinations” as New Zealand. There are also an increasing number of Russian people who visit friends and relatives residing in New Zealand. Marketing implications, based on these findings, are derived. Since no previous studies have assessed the Russian outbound travel market with reference to New Zealand, this research is considered a pilot study. Future research should attempt to obtain travellers’ views from other travel companies in Moscow and Ekaterinburg, as well as from other major cities in Russia.