Residents' perceptions, migrant groups and culture as an attraction - the case of a proposed Pacific Island cultural centre in New Zealand

This study is based on a sample of 281 who responded to a questionnaire about the possibility of establishing a Pacific Island Business and Cultural Centre, and their perception of Auckland as a Polynesian City. It is thought that for the Centre to be viable it must become established as a tourist attraction. In doing so, it would reinforce the notion of Auckland as the world's largest Polynesian city. The sample comprised Auckland residents, partly because of the high rate of VFR tourism in the city and a need for the Centre to generate repeat visitation. Methods of analysis use a combination of conventional statistical techniques and textual analysis software. The findings show that European New Zealanders appear to be at best, indifferent to the concept. The study reports the results and discusses the implications for both stakeholders and theoretical concepts. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.