PICTURE: GERMAN tourists Nils Fischer and Barbara Sturm enjoy a spectacular sunset on seaside walkway at New Plymouth, the city voted the best in world in the 35,000 to 75,000 category.         PHOTO: Rob Tucker

New Zealand lately has reached cult status as a destination for German travellers. SABRINA DANKEL finds out why we’re so popular back home:

THE influx of German tourists to New Zealand has risen nearly 30% in the past eight years – but government claims the rise is due to its marketing campaigns are questionable.

The office of new Minister of Tourism John Key (he is too busy to discuss the matter with NewsWire) says its big marketing drives in Germany have paid off.

Yet Germans who were asked why they have come here haven’t even noticed.

Those spoken to by NewsWire say their interest was awoken by their friends and reports on television, rather than advertising or other kinds of promotion.

“You hear about New Zealand in the German media all the time,” says Holger Ewerding, who has just arrived from Berlin and will work as a chef in a Blenheim restaurant.
 
“Ten years ago, most of the Germans didn’t even know that New Zealand is a stand-alone country and has nothing to do with Australia. But nowadays it is highly popular.”

Fellow travellers Katrin and Nina (they didn’t want their full names used) agreed, saying New Zealand is seen a lot on TV reality shows.

Germany is New Zealand’s second largest European source of tourists, according to the Tourism New Zealand website.

Asked if the recession is expected to affect traffic, they referred us to the website, which says although the credit-crisis has affected the German market, Germany is expected to cope with the situation.

The website says Tourism New Zealand proceeds on the assumption that the relatively-strong Euro still enables the Germans to travel overseas.   

Statistics show the number of German visitors arriving in New Zealand has increased from 46,243 in 1999 to 59,765 in 2007. 

New Zealand’s nature is what most Germans are mainly attracted to, say magazine reports in Germany. Flora and fauna and the diversity of climate zones and landscapes primarily fascinate tourists.

“The mountains, the lakes, the sea – this is what many Germans are temped by,” say Nina and Katrin, who are currently in New Zealand for a stopover on a trip through different countries.
“Everyone goes to Australia and New Zealand. It’s just…popular in Germany.”

In describing the German fascination with New Zealand’s nature, Holger Ewerding draws comparisons between New Zealand and California.

“I’ve been to California for holidays and I think that the diversity of Californian landscapes is comparable with New Zealand’s. Out of Germany and straight into paradise.”

According to him, New Zealand has the reputation of being a modern country offering a variety of experiences.

He shares the opinion of many Germans who think New Zealanders are hospitable, helpful and humorous people and that their positive way of thinking constitutes the unique, openly friendly spirit among the Kiwis, which is so different from Germans, who are rather reserved by comparison.

Peter Hahn (right), a German immigration consultant in New Zealand, thinks one of his clients’ main reasons is they want to escape Germany.

The tourism campaigns in Germany picture New Zealand as a green, clean country where the Germans get to find all the aspects they miss in their mother country.

“Somehow, alas, the marketing campaigns convey a false impression of New Zealand,” he says. “They tend to idealise and therefore some people come to New Zealand who are not made for living here. 

“New Zealand is compatible with German standards. The lifestyle is more geared to European and less to American lifestyle, whilst the spoken language is English, a language many Germans are able to speak.”

New Zealand culturally contrasts strongly with the US and he thinks that is precisely why his clients appreciate this country. 

The German perspective

Sabrina Dankel’s take on Germany’s interest in New Zealand:

The industry people I’ve spoken to in New Zealand seem convinced Tourism New Zealand’s last big marketing campaign in my country in October is responsible for the numbers of Germans coming here.

I was there in October and I didn’t notice any campaign – and I was taking a close interest in New Zealand prior to coming here.
 
I think people are being tempted not so much by marketing campaigns but by reality shows on TV and colourful travellers’ tales on community boards on the web.

Indeed, daily life in New Zealand is comparable with life in Germany, but Kiwis’ attitude towards life is considered laid-back and this is a great contrast to the German caution.

Germans are attracted by the image they see in the German media of a sun-kissed country which is as far away from home as possible, with endless beaches, friendly inhabitants and the opportunity of turning German winter into Kiwi summer.

According to the Tourism New Zealand website, this is what New Zealand tourism campaigns have to do: turn the German tourists’ dream into reality.

But how can tourists be attracted by campaigns that advertise a travel destination like New Zealand when they are conspicuous by their absence?

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