KEY POINTS:
In just a couple of years, it is estimated that 49 million mainland Chinese will travel abroad for work and play. By 2010, that figure is likely to rise to 60 million, and 100 million in 2015. And why wouldn't some of these many millions make New Zealand a holiday destination?
Already the number of Chinese coming to New Zealand is increasing. China has grown to become New Zealand's sixth-largest source of international holiday visitors.
Last year, 85,000 Chinese visited New Zealand, up 7 per cent on 2004. At the end of 2005, Chinese visitors to New Zealand had spent a total of $273.9 million.
All of Asia is seen as a significant growth market in international tourism. But the reasons people travel from the likes of Japan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Taiwan are not all the same, and little research has been undertaken into the attitudes of Chinese holidaymakers compared with the attitude of Japanese, Taiwanese or Korean tourists.
For every holidaymaker from every country there is a push-pull effect.
What they're trying to get away from is the push, for example, the stress of work, or the rat-race.
What draws them to a particular destination is the pull - for example, our beaches, our bush or our adventure tourism.
Earlier research showed that mainland Chinese liked to travel for leisure activities and gaming, and in New Zealand they found the Maori culture experience and visiting a national park were the two most attractive holiday activities.
But the most recent survey from the University of Waikato Management School has thrown up different results.
We surveyed 421 Chinese visitors from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. More than half were female and about two-thirds were married with tertiary qualifications and earned above-average salaries. Most did not want to go bungy jumping, waterskiing or gambling.
They wanted passive tourism experiences, like sightseeing tours and beaches, with a heavy focus on natural things.
They liked the idea of going to an albatross colony, visiting a glacier or swimming with dolphins and visiting geothermal parks and glaciers.
And they rated such things above seeing Maori music and dance, or farm shows.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it was the younger singles who wanted more social activities and active adventures, and were keener to meet new friends. They do not come to New Zealand to shop.
Chinese have increased disposable income, and are becoming some the biggest spenders and most extravagant shoppers when travelling abroad.
But our study showed that shopping in New Zealand wasn't a popular attraction. Perhaps language difficulties were a barrier, and also we do not have the large shopping malls that offer the big-brand consumer goods found in other countries.
The main push factors for everybody in the survey, all from busy cities, were the need to relax and intellectual and curiosity motives. They wanted holidays where they relaxed mentally and physically.
They were also keen to increase their knowledge by discovering new ideas and places. Their pull factor - generic natural attractions with a difference - fits Tourism New Zealand's promotional strategy.
That may sound like a good thing, but the problem is that many other destinations can provide pretty, unique natural attractions and lovely animals.
At present we are attracting only 0.5 per cent of those Chinese travelling outside China and the reasons they come are not the same as the wider tourist market.
So now we need to compare the characteristics of Chinese visiting New Zealand with those visiting other countries.
The challenge then is to promote ourselves in such a way that we draw on their push-pull factors but also offer a distinct point of difference from other international destinations.
No one said it would be easy, but the Chinese international tourism market is too big to sit back and be content with what we're offering already.
The findings suggest that New Zealand tourism be promoted to a group of Chinese holidaymakers who are better educated, have higher income levels and therefore greater spending power.
We need to be proactive if we're going to keep them coming, otherwise they will go to cheaper, closer or more exciting destinations, and there are a lot of tourist dollars at stake.
* Dr Asad Mohsin lectures in Tourism at Waikato University's Management School.
