Cook Islands Visitor Survey 2012-2013

Executive Summary.

This executive summary focuses on the characteristics, expectations and expenditure patterns of tourists who visited the Cook Islands during the first year of data collection (April 2012 to 31 March 2013).The data presented is drawn from an online departure survey. There were 5920 individual respondents to the survey - representing a total of 9,341 adults and an additional 1,214 children.

The majority (67%) of visitors surveyed come from New Zealand, 20% come from Australia. Visitors are generally well educated (69% of visitors have some form of tertiary education) and have a higher than average annual household income (49% earn over NZ$100,000 per year). Nearly half (46%) of the visitors travel with just one companion. Solo travellers are relatively rare (6%).

Just under 60% of the visitors surveyed (59%) are on their first visit to the Cook Islands, a further 28% have visited once or twice before. The main purpose of visit is holiday making (73%). The average length of stay in the Cook Islands is 8.7 nights. The majority of the visitors (92%) stay either one or two weeks. The vast majority (94%) of the visitors surveyed visit Rarotonga, with 20% visiting Aitutaki.

On average, visitors to the Cook Islands spend NZ$2,012 per person prior to arrival. Of this, 40% ($805) is estimated to flow to the Cook Islands. While in the Cook Islands, the total local spend per visitor per day is $126 and the average local spend per visitor during the whole trip is $1084. If the proportion of prepaid spend that flows into the local economy, and the local spend amount are combined, it is estimated that each visitor brings $1,889 to the Cook Islands economy (or $217 per day).

Visitor satisfaction with activities and services is generally high. Land-based activities are characterised by the strongest participation levels; cultural activities are characterised by the highest overall satisfaction ratings. The most appealing elements of the Cook Islands experience are considered to be the friendly people, the unspoilt environment and the peacefulness of the destination. The least appealing elements of the Cook Islands experience are considered to be the poor quality and value for money of tourism services such as accommodation and rental cars, quality and frequency of public transport, the inconvenient flight times, the presence of rubbish on beaches and the numerous stray dogs.

Overall satisfaction on the part of tourists is very high: 4 out of every 5 of the visitors (93%) surveyed want to return to the Cook Islands and 98% would recommend the Cook Islands to friends or family.