January 2006
A quick summers’ weekend cycling around the Coromandel recently allowed me to become reacquainted with backpackers’ hostels and their clientele. A new business opportunity became obvious to me and in the spirit of the season I’m sharing it with NBR readers who may be keen to start the new year with a new business.
Obviously there are many types of tourist who travel through New Zealand. At the most basic level they split into two broad groups. The first is those who are shepherded around the countryside to a tight itinerary in giant coaches, whether they be American retirees, Tokyo honeymooners or 19 year-old Germans on the Kiwi Experience.
The second group is those know in the trade as ‘FITs’, the ‘free-independent-travelers’, who make their own itinerary and traveling arrangements, whether they be wealthy tourists renting their own BMW and staying at the likes of Huka Lodge, or hitch-hiking 20-somethings picking fruit to make ends meet.
What both of these groups have in common is the general pattern of traveling to a location, staying until the main sights and attractions have been ticked-off, and then moving on. Of course there are exceptions, but it raises the question – are they really experiencing the country (i.e. the land and it’s people and culture) or just a string of attractions linked by a countryside viewed through a window? How well can one get to really know a country if it’s just a string of packaged tourism experiences, experienced within a traveling social bubble of other overseas travelers? To illustrate, many’s the time that this cycle tourist has conversed with overseas travelers whilst I stayed at New Zealand backpacker hostels, only to find that I’m first real Kiwi they’ve had a proper conversation with after weeks and sometimes months in the country.
Obviously there are those who wish to experience more about a country than its packaged attractions, and these tourists are well catered to through dozens of home-based tourist guides, homestays and bed and breakfasts. These more people-oriented business owners are the ones who will get their guests to the more authentic experiences, be they the Otara Market, a local school fair, or those isolated scenic highlights well away from tourist trail. They pride themselves on catering to individual tastes and interests. However, this latter group of guides tend to be one of a kind – middle-aged, genial people-oriented couples, who genuinely love the region and country they’re showing to their tourist customers.
However, not everyone who wishes to really experience a country wishes to be driven around by someone the age of his or her parents. What does the 25-year-old backpacker do to get a real taste of New Zealand culture in relation to others in his age group?
The answer is the new business opportunity conceptually summarized as “Homestays for Generation Y”. This business offers young FIT travelers the opportunity to explore the country and its people in regards to what they’re actually interested in – which frankly isn’t usually Lord of the Rings tours, eco-safaris and the Sky Tower. These are the young tourists who would jump to experience everything ‘Kiwi’ from a young person’s perspective, with an emphasis on authenticity and fun, and with young people as their guides. “Homestays for Generation Y” would offer these people a chance to truly experience the other side to New Zealand culture, whether it’s keg parties, cutting-edge nightclubs, the burgeoning pimped-up car culture, party pills, beach BBQs, getting high at Piha, flea-markets, summer road trips, student radio, dance parties or suburban beer-barns.
For young travelers who want fun and a real cultural immersion, this would beat Lonely Planet and AJ Hackett hands-down. Readers are invited to take this idea and run with it – although now my idea’s in print I might be in touch for my cut…