Lake Wanaka, New Zealand (Australian Geographic)
"We have seen Chinese visitors skydiving, we've seen them jetboating, we've seen them staying in luxury lodges and five-star apartments, and we've seen them out driving camper vans as well.''#
—James Helmore#
James Helmore, Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager, has been noticing that Chinese tourists are starting to branch out of the stereotypes of shopping-tour-in-a-bus and here-for-a-short-time. Nowadays, places like Lake Wanaka in Queenstown, New Zealand are seeing more Chinese “free independent travelers” (FITs) hungry for bragging rights via unique experiences.According to Helmore, credit card use is a clear indicator of budding Chinese tourism in the region; Chinese-based credit cards accounted for only 16 transactions in February 2008, compared to 1,200 in February of this year.