Shopping's Role as a Tourism Activity for the North American Visitor to New Zealand

Abstract

Very few people travel with the sole aim of going shopping, particularly to a country such as New Zealand. Yet by the end of a trip, tourists have usually visited shops and bought items.

This study was designed to investigate the role of shopping for North American visitors to New Zealand. It aimed to find out if most visitors shopped and why, and if, shopping led to purchase and if there was scope for closer cooperation between tourism and the retail industry.

It found that shopping was an integral part of most of the respondents’ visit to New Zealand. Most visitors bought products in New Zealand because it was very important for them to take home something tangible from their trip. Despite this, overall, the visitors were not very impressed with their shopping experiences in New Zealand.

This study provided some interesting findings for leisure studies. It indicated that leisure shopping for tourists was an activity as closely associated with work as it was with leisure. Work was defined as a productive activity where there was a compelling need or obligation to seek a return. The element of work, therefore, appeared as a need to seek something tangible from the travel experience. The elements of leisure included a sense of freedom from constraint and free time. There were indications that some respondents were intrinsically motivated to shop. They were shopping for the experience itself which was often more important than if or what they purchased. There were signs that some shopped out of an intrinsic motivation to find out more about the community they were visiting. There were several reasons for buying items; as a personal memento; evidence to others or to assert their individuality.