Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Air New Zealand's exposure in China will be boosted in a leading Chinese reality show You Are The One to feature three specially themed episodes about the airline and this country.
The show has more than 300 million television viewers as well as a big online following.
Its host MengFei has a following on Chinese social media site Weibo of around 30 million fans and You Are The One has almost eight times the number of viewers as the most popular episode of American Idol, the airline said.
"Our connection with Meng Fei and with the show is literally money-can't-buy exposure for our brand in this critical market," said Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon.
He said Air New Zealand and its revenue share partner Cathay Pacific now carry two-thirds of the 77,000 visitors who come directly from China and that part of the business had improved its financial performance in China.
"The real opportunity is to build the direct services to and from China so we can accelerate the mono-destination visitors. A mono-destination visitor is ultimately more valuable to the New Zealand economy as they stay longer." he said.
Air New Zealand has been flying to China for seven years and has daily services to Shanghai.
