Tripsters choose beaches mountains and the grape

By COLIN MOORE

Perhaps it is the wine, or maybe it is sunshine and sand, or the proximity of mountains, but Christchurch, Hawkes Bay and Northland seem to be the most popular New Zealand destinations among Herald Tripsters.

We asked our panel where they had travelled in New Zealand in the past 12 months and where they intended to travel in New Zealand in the next 12 months.

Wellington was the most frequent destination over the past 12 months, with 40 per cent of our panel having visited the capital. But with 38 per cent of domestic travel being cited as for work, rather than personal, we suspect that many of the visitors to the Windy City are not there voluntarily.

Certainly Wellington doesn't feature that highly as a future destination for our panel.

But Hawkes Bay, Christchurch and Northland, visited by about 30 per cent of the Tripsters in the past 12 months, feature highly in their future travel plans.

The Coromandel Peninsula and the Nelson/Marlborough region were the next most popular regions, both in the past and the future, followed closely by Rotorua, Tauranga, the Bay of Plenty and Queenstown.

Taranaki, Dunedin, Invercargill, Wanganui, Palmerston North and Gisborne, all had a visit from a handful of the Tripsters.

During the next 12 months, many of the Tripsters plan on going to the South Island, particularly Christchurch, Queenstown, and Marlborough. Several intend to head south to go skiing.

Next from the Tripsters poll: Where our panellists have been overseas in the past 12 months and where they are going next.