Ham is the winner for Christmas dinner

The results are in and ham is still the country’s favourite Christmas Day feast, according to a recent survey.

The latest Fly Buys/Colmar Brunton Mood of the New Zealand Traveller survey, released by the Tourism Industry Association, shows more New Zealanders favour ham for Christmas dinner (24%), than runner up turkey (20%), or lamb (18%).

Fly Buys Chief Executive Lance Walker says while almost two-thirds still prefer traditional festive fare, many of us are willing to branch out.

“According to the survey 62% of the country favour the traditional choices of ham, turkey and lamb at Christmas. Ham took out first place for two years in a row, but has dropped by 5%-points in popularity from last year, while the popularity of lamb has increased from 14% to 18% this year.

“While the majority of the nation still favour traditional choices, for many Kiwis a barbeque of prawns at the beach is just as good a way to celebrate Christmas as a roast dinner with all of the trimmings. In fact 10% of us picked seafood as our favourite Christmas meal. Pork came in fifth place at 9%,” Mr Walker says.

When it comes to the biggest causes of holiday stress, it’s money worries, with 22% of New Zealanders saying this is the biggest source of frustration over the holiday period, followed by choosing presents (12%), relations (10%), traffic (8%) and having to work (8%), while 23% aren’t expecting any holiday stress at all.

“Christmas is a time for joy and celebration but there can be a few added pressures over the holiday period. On the whole it’s about being with family and making the most of our glorious New Zealand summer with the people we care about,” Mr Walker says.

This year 83% of Kiwis are planning to spend Christmas Day at home or at a family members’ house. Only 3% of the nation will spend Christmas Day at a friend’s home and 3% will be working on Christmas Day.