scholarly journals The future of the New Zealand tourism workforce: 2035

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Laura Petersen

<p>Imagining the future is a tantalising thought, considering that we will never truly know what lies ahead. Despite this inability, envisioning the future has not remained trapped in the realm of mere science fiction fantasies, but is increasingly attempted by organisations, academics and governments. This thesis uses scenario planning to ask what will the future of the New Zealand tourism workforce look like in the year 2035. Scenario planning, as a method of futures studies, is an increasingly popular approach to envisioning the future and draws upon key drivers of change in the present to formulate plausible future scenarios. This provides decision makers with a space for discussion and stretches their thinking through rich storylines. This thesis adds valuable insight to both areas of workforce planning, and New Zealand’s valuable tourism industry and its workforce. It takes an alternatively qualitative scenario approach to holistically explore this topic.  The year 2035 was chosen to push the current industry discussions around the Tourism 2025 strategy even further into the future. A modified Delphi method guided the research, based on a similar scenario planning study by Solnet, Baum, Kralj, Robinson, Ritchie, and Olsen (2013) which focused on the tourism workforce of the Asia-Pacific region. This method adds truthfulness to the research and involves three rounds of surveys that draw upon the knowledge and consensus of experts within the tourism and workforce fields in New Zealand. From a list of ten drivers, immigration policies and the growing Asian market emerged as the most important and formed the basis for the four alternative future scenarios. “Manaakitanga is Found Here” presents a world of closed immigration and a niche Asian tourist market, where the workforce relies on, and celebrates, local knowledge and culture. “Pick of the Labour Crop” encourages a flexible workforce for private profit within open immigration settings with a niche Asian market. “Struggling for Respect” warns of a future where tourism lacks national strategic importance with a struggling workforce, amongst closed immigration policies and a mass Asian market. Finally, “Cheap and Plentiful” explores how open immigration and a mass Asian market could push a flexible workforce and a cheaper tourism product, which damages the country’s industry and image.  The study reveals that some scenarios are more desirable than others, but regardless of which scenario unfolds, they each present various challenges and opportunities for the workforce.They emphasis the unpredictable nature of the future and stress the importance of flexibility in order to respond and adapt to changes. They also highlight the necessity of seeking a balanced solution for the workforce and striving for a quality tourism product that respectfully integrates our Māori culture.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Laura Petersen

<p>Imagining the future is a tantalising thought, considering that we will never truly know what lies ahead. Despite this inability, envisioning the future has not remained trapped in the realm of mere science fiction fantasies, but is increasingly attempted by organisations, academics and governments. This thesis uses scenario planning to ask what will the future of the New Zealand tourism workforce look like in the year 2035. Scenario planning, as a method of futures studies, is an increasingly popular approach to envisioning the future and draws upon key drivers of change in the present to formulate plausible future scenarios. This provides decision makers with a space for discussion and stretches their thinking through rich storylines. This thesis adds valuable insight to both areas of workforce planning, and New Zealand’s valuable tourism industry and its workforce. It takes an alternatively qualitative scenario approach to holistically explore this topic.  The year 2035 was chosen to push the current industry discussions around the Tourism 2025 strategy even further into the future. A modified Delphi method guided the research, based on a similar scenario planning study by Solnet, Baum, Kralj, Robinson, Ritchie, and Olsen (2013) which focused on the tourism workforce of the Asia-Pacific region. This method adds truthfulness to the research and involves three rounds of surveys that draw upon the knowledge and consensus of experts within the tourism and workforce fields in New Zealand. From a list of ten drivers, immigration policies and the growing Asian market emerged as the most important and formed the basis for the four alternative future scenarios. “Manaakitanga is Found Here” presents a world of closed immigration and a niche Asian tourist market, where the workforce relies on, and celebrates, local knowledge and culture. “Pick of the Labour Crop” encourages a flexible workforce for private profit within open immigration settings with a niche Asian market. “Struggling for Respect” warns of a future where tourism lacks national strategic importance with a struggling workforce, amongst closed immigration policies and a mass Asian market. Finally, “Cheap and Plentiful” explores how open immigration and a mass Asian market could push a flexible workforce and a cheaper tourism product, which damages the country’s industry and image.  The study reveals that some scenarios are more desirable than others, but regardless of which scenario unfolds, they each present various challenges and opportunities for the workforce.They emphasis the unpredictable nature of the future and stress the importance of flexibility in order to respond and adapt to changes. They also highlight the necessity of seeking a balanced solution for the workforce and striving for a quality tourism product that respectfully integrates our Māori culture.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Yeoman ◽  
Amalina Andrade ◽  
Elisante Leguma ◽  
Natalie Wolf ◽  
Peter Ezra ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to portray the future of tourism in New Zealand based upon a philosophy of sustainability and cultural identity as a response to the present 2025 Tourism Strategy. Design/methodology/approach The research deployed a scenario planning methodology resulting in four portraits of the future. Findings Environmental issues and global migration are the key issues that will shape the future of New Zealand tourism. In order to address these issues four scenarios were constructed. New Zealand Wonderland portrays a future based upon a grounded international reputation for environmentalism driven by good governance, climate change targets and ecotourism. Indiana Jones and the Search for Cultural Identity position a future driven by rapid growth and unregulated air travel resulting in environmental degradation. A Peaceful Mixture is a balance of socio‐cultural and environmental dimensions of sustainability at the centre of a tourism product shaped upon Maori culture and economic prosperity. The final scenario, New Zealand in Depression, is the worst possible outcome for New Zealand's tourism industry as the three dimensions of economy, community, and environment are not at equilibrium. New Zealand would be over‐polluted with an uncontrolled number of migrants. Research limitations/implications The research was a social construction of ten experts’ views on the future of sustainable tourism. Originality/value New Zealand's present approach to the future of tourism is shaped by the 2025 Tourism Framework (http://tourism2025.org.nz/). This is derived from a business perspective and a neoliberal political philosophy and it is void of the words ecotourism and sustainability. This paper argues that the present strategy will fail because of community disengagement that proposes a range of alternative directions based upon a political discourse of sustainability and shaped by environmental credentials and cultural identity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Julian Lee

<p>Western power has been sustained in the Asia-Pacific region by United States military might ever since the defeat of Japan. For the first time since then, China, a non-Western power, poses a challenge to that dominance, with the result that “neither Australia nor New Zealand has ever seriously considered how we would defend our interests and secure our countries in a region which was not dominated by our great and powerful Anglo-Saxon friends.”1 China is the new variable in the Asia-Pacific equation, and New Zealand is now required to factor this new element into its strategic calculations for the future. China’s ascendancy in the Asia-Pacific region will have a huge impact on New Zealand’s future strategic outlook. The purpose of this essay will be to design, as simply as possible, a way to structure thoughts and discussion about the defence relationship between New Zealand and China, from a New Zealand perspective. It will aim to establish a basic framework centred around a number of themes in order to provide a platform for analysis in the future. It will be a brief examination of how these two nations talk with each other at the defence level in the early twenty-first century.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ying Liu

<p>This study examines the structure of the distribution channels and the underlying factors influencing the most prominent channel choices within the wine tourism industry in New Zealand. This research specifically compares wine tourism in Marlborough and Auckland. It aims to provide a better understanding of the distribution channels for practitioners in the wine tourism industry, with the hope of assisting them to develop their wine tourism businesses successfully and manage the businesses growth effectively. This is a destination-based study performed by employing qualitative approaches focusing on the supply-side through semi-structured interviews. These in-depth interviews were conducted with the owners or managers of the local wine tour operators and wineries in the two regions. The findings generally show that wine tourism businesses place a clear priority on direct distribution of their wine tourism product to visitors “at destination”; the majority of customers of all these businesses are independent visitors. Specifically, overseas independent tourists comprise the largest portion of customers to local wine tour operators in Marlborough and Auckland. The wine tour operators work more actively with intermediaries and reach tourists “in market”, “while travelling” and “at destination” than wineries in these two regions. Marlborough wineries and Auckland wine tour operators and wineries receive domestic corporate groups, most of whom are approached “at destination” with direct distribution. Compared with wineries in Marlborough, more corporate groups use Auckland wine tour operators to visit wineries. Marlborough wineries and wine tour operators, and Auckland wine tour operators receive more international visitors, whereas the majority of visitors to Auckland wineries are from Auckland. When considering the function of wine tourism distribution channels, information provision, reservation and purchase are nearly equally important to local wine tour operators in both Marlborough and Auckland; the most widely used functions for Marlborough wineries is information provision; for Auckland wineries, information provision and purchase play significant roles in the distribution of wine tourism product. Factors influencing distribution channel choice include information provision cost, commissions, businesses’ attitudes towards tourism, perceptions of the Internet, service diversity, capacity, accessibility, availability, market segments, reputation and nature of intermediaries.</p>


1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 261-273
Author(s):  
A Miller

This paper examines the future energy production and demand profiles for the Asia Pacific region and the global allocation of exploration capital made by major international petroleum companies. The implications of these factors for future government petroleum exploration policies within the region are considered, in particular the Australian and New Zealand situations, together with likely effects of such measures on the ability of exploration and production companies to raise capital.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Julian Lee

<p>Western power has been sustained in the Asia-Pacific region by United States military might ever since the defeat of Japan. For the first time since then, China, a non-Western power, poses a challenge to that dominance, with the result that “neither Australia nor New Zealand has ever seriously considered how we would defend our interests and secure our countries in a region which was not dominated by our great and powerful Anglo-Saxon friends.”1 China is the new variable in the Asia-Pacific equation, and New Zealand is now required to factor this new element into its strategic calculations for the future. China’s ascendancy in the Asia-Pacific region will have a huge impact on New Zealand’s future strategic outlook. The purpose of this essay will be to design, as simply as possible, a way to structure thoughts and discussion about the defence relationship between New Zealand and China, from a New Zealand perspective. It will aim to establish a basic framework centred around a number of themes in order to provide a platform for analysis in the future. It will be a brief examination of how these two nations talk with each other at the defence level in the early twenty-first century.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Adam Ransfield

<p>The Māori economic asset base has seen significant growth over the past 100 years. Research estimates the Māori economy to be valued at 50 billion (NZ Foreign Affairs & Trade, 2018). While this figure represents the Māori economy, Māori tourism makes a significant economic contribution to this asset base. When considering the different aspects of the New Zealand tourism product, a key aspect that sets New Zealand tourism apart from other destinations is the unique Māori culture. This cultural aspect is a key motivating factor for international tourists intending on visiting New Zealand.  Māori tourism businesses offer a range of tourism products and services that are embedded in, and informed by Māori values. When incorporated in business, many of these traditional Māori values align closely to the three pillars of business sustainability. Literature on Māori tourism, Māori values and business sustainability provide some insight into this phenomenon. However, little is known about how these three components interrelate. Ultimately very little is known about how traditional Māori values impact the business sustainability of Māori tourism businesses. The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether Māori tourism businesses incorporate traditional Māori values into their business and if so, how does the application of these values affect the sustainability of Māori tourism businesses.  Developed from an interpretive social science research paradigm aligned with Kaupapa Māori research, this thesis assesses the impacts of the incorporation of Māori values on the business sustainability of Māori tourism businesses. Semi-structured interviews were selected as an appropriate method of data collection. 12 respondents from eight Māori tourism businesses were interviewed and their responses along with an analysis of the wider literature enabled the researcher to answer the overarching research question – how are traditional Māori values affecting the business sustainability of Māori tourism businesses?   Key research findings include the following: the importance of hiring Māori, developing cultural capacity of staff and stakeholders, preventing cultural misappropriation, providing opportunities for local communities, the relationship of Māori with the land, the importance of sustainable relationships, the impact of climate change on Kaitiakitanga, and the importance of making a profit – but not at the detriment of culture and the environment. The findings identified that to have the ability to implement sustainable practices requires financial sustainability.  This thesis makes a contribution to the literature on Māori values, Māori tourism and business sustainability by providing a greater understanding of which Māori values are applied by Māori tourism businesses and how these values impact business sustainability. In particular, this thesis has done something that previous literature has not, that is, it has attributed the specific effects of individual Māori values against the pillars of business sustainability. This gives the indication of which values have the greatest impact on business sustainability. Finally, in accordance with Kaupapa Māori research, this thesis has provided a practical contribution to the Māori tourism industry. This contribution is in the form of recommendations made to enhance the business sustainability of Māori tourism businesses.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Natalie Wolf

<p>Tourism is affected by growing transformations of social change, globalisation and wealth creation. Uncertainty surrounding the development of the factors makes it difficult to predict and provide contingency for the future. This is especially so for the spa tourism industry given its enormous figures in revenue growth over the past two decades. Given the growth of the spa industry and the key uncertainties that will shape its future, it is important to understand how the landscape of the spa industry might change in the next few decades. Although there has been research done on the future of spa tourism, for example by the Global Spa and Wellness Summit, their work requires more development and is not country-specific. In response, this study is of value as it explores the future of spa tourism in terms of creating multiple potential pathways. It does this from the perspective of the German spa industry, and addresses the interrelationships of these uncertainties. By following the specific methodology of scenario planning, this study develops a scenario analysis of the future of the German spa industry and answers the questions “What will the German spa tourist and spa tourism industry look like in 2030?” The study consisted of 22 semi-structured interviews with a diverse expert panel in Germany. Interview participants identified twelve key drivers which were discussed in light of existing literature. The two most significant key drivers identified in the interviews were then positioned along a two- key matrix with the demanding consumer on the horizontal axis and new distribution of wealth on the vertical axis. Based on these drivers the study presents four plausible yet challenging and completely different scenarios for the development of the German spa tourist and tourism in 2030. The scenarios include prosperous society, highlighting a positive future for German spas due to the growth of the middle class and thus increasing demands and a multifaceted spa clientele; the power elite, concentrating on the super rich spa consumer and their extravagant consumer behaviour; middle class on the brink, presenting a squeezed middle class and a gradient decline of the spa industry; and the welfare state, a gloomy scenario with almost no spa tourism left. Through examination of significant questions and strategic implications, the study concludes that the spa industry needs to challenge its current linear ways of thinking by adopting new insights and perspectives of the future. Furthermore, the industry needs to establish standardised criteria for accreditation and operation of spa facilities. This needs to include a focus on staff training in order to continue to attract the German spa tourist and thus remain profitable in the future.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Masoud Darabi ◽  
Mohammad Keshtidar ◽  
Omar Alizaiy_Yousef_Abadi ◽  
Reza Heydari ◽  
Ahmad Nazari-Torshizi ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brielle Gillovic ◽  
Alison McIntosh

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to put forward the argument that New Zealand’s tourism industry generally fails to acknowledge the importance of the access market. Despite anecdotal evidence of the market’s value and strong legislation, New Zealand’s access market arguably remains underserviced and misunderstood. The current research sought to explore social and business rationales to support a future for accessible tourism in New Zealand, from the perspectives of its key stakeholders. It sought to uncover contemporary issues in the tourism industry, to examine the capacity and context for which issues can be addressed and overcome, to achieve a future for accessible tourism in New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach Under the interpretive paradigm, original, exploratory research was conducted. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with ten key New Zealand tourism industry stakeholders who agreed to participate in the research. Qualitative data were thematically analysed. The following five key themes inductively emerged from the data: “Accessibility as a human right: Developing a culture of accessibility”; “Accessible tourism: Good for business?”; “Bottom-up, market-led approach”; “Leadership from the top: Moving from apathy to action”; and “Meeting somewhere in the middle”. The five themes correspond to themes evidenced in the wider literature and present propositions for the future development of accessible tourism in New Zealand. Findings Findings revealed stakeholder opinions of an industry exemplifying minimal awareness and consideration for accessibility. Accessibility was perceived to be an issue of social change, requiring the achievement of a cultural shift where accessibility is envisioned as a cultural norm necessary for the future. Whilst top-down leadership and support were deemed pertinent, ownership and accountability were seen to be crucial at the lower, operational levels of the industry. A “meeting in the middle” was reported necessary to see the leveraging of a greater push towards accessibility and emphasising more prominently, what has been and can be done, moving forward into the future. Originality/value This paper provides original insights into the current and future scope of accessible tourism in New Zealand from the perspectives of its stakeholders. The key themes derived from the research assist knowledge for aligning the industry on a pathway towards achieving the necessary awareness and collaboration required in order to offer accessible tourism experiences to all.


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