Rotorua has been named in the world's top 10 trending destinations on Booking.com. Photo / Felix Desmarais
Rotorua has been named among the top 10 trending global destinations by major travel website Booking.com.
It comes as the tourism hotspot’s business community anticipates a positive year ahead, with more than 100 companies across 20 industries seeing visitors returning to the city.
Booking.com looked at customer bookings for travel in the coming two years that were made in the 12 months to the end of July.
The top 1000 most-booked places were ranked by year-over-year increase.
Rotorua ranked in the top 10 alongside sister-city Beppu in Japan, which Mayor Tania Tapsell will visit next year.
Tapsell said she was stoked to see Rotorua named a top trending destination.
“This is a huge boost of confidence that Rotorua continues to be a world-class destination.
“It was interesting seeing 74 per cent of people feel relaxed around water, with our beautiful lakes and uniquely-Rotorua geothermal it’s no wonder we’ve placed so highly.”
Tapsell congratulated Beppu, a fellow geothermal destination, on its rating.
When her visit there was approved last month Tapsell told Local Democracy Reporting it was an opportunity to remind potential visitors Rotorua was “back in business” for tourists.
Booking.com Oceania regional manager Todd Lacey said with an array of fantastic accommodation, attractions and experiences, Rotorua was hitting the global stage as international travel continued to return to Aotearoa.
Tourism and economic development agency RotoruaNZ brand and marketing manager Haydn Marriner was thrilled by the international recognition.
“This amazing accolade adds to the international recognition for Rotorua, following an earlier acknowledgment by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 50 places to visit in 2023.”
He said it was a result of hard work by local tourism operators.
Among international awards received in the past year were Trip Advisor Award recipients, such as world’s best nature tour Rotorua Canopy Tours - visited this month by superstar Sam Smith - and Polynesian Spa, which secured three awards at the World Luxury Spa Awards 2023.
He said the accolades reflected operators’ “relentless positivity and drive”.
Marriner said The Business Pulse Survey results, released on Thursday, mirrored this positivity, indicating a strong belief within the business community the tourism sector is on the rise.
“Rotorua invites all of New Zealand to come and experience the best attractions, activities and people for the best summer ever.
“The forward-looking data gives us great optimism that Rotorua is on the rise, and we are proud of the work of our local people who have all contributed to this success and for being positive about our place and our future.”
RotoruaNZ and the Rotorua Business Chamber jointly conduct the business survey twice a year.
The fourth edition was published to a new interactive dashboard on its website.
Asked what they were most positive about for the next 12 months, tourism recovery was the most popular answer among respondents at 44 per cent.
Comments from the survey were posted anonymously and included noting there were more visitors in town, including from overseas, and highlighting freshly completed public areas such as the lakefront.
Others mentioned the city’s “beautiful natural assets” and an increase in visitor accommodation, such as motels, switched back from emergency housing.
The report said economic confidence was flat compared to a year ago but there was a huge jump looking out a year, seemingly driven by the change in government and the return of international tourists.
It also noted cost pressures remained but profitability was expected to rise, leading to an increased appetite for capital investment and improved hiring intentions.
Finding skilled staff remained a top concern but had dropped with immigration starting to ease staffing pressures.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist for four years.
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air
How a resilient Kiwi village hopes to bounce back from a big drop in visitors.