Tourism NZ looking to the stars to boost sagging visitor industry

Tourism NZ has launched a new campaign to highlight stargrazing and food in Aotearoa.

Tourism New Zealand has launched a new campaign featuring this country’s cuisine and stargrazing to increase year-round visitation as the industry struggles following the pandemic.

The recovery has stalled, with Stats NZ figures out yesterday showing the number of overseas tourists was running at 83% of pre-Covid highs in 2019.

Tourism NZ’s four-year strategy is to grow year-round visitation with a focus on the months between March and November — helping to double New Zealand’s exports and growing tourism to a $13.2 billion sector by 2028.

“The campaign is strategically aligned to build desire for Aotearoa New Zealand as a compelling destination for international visitors all year round. It is all part of helping build a resilient year-round sector,” says Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) chief executive René de Monchy.

The cuisine, dark skies and winter experiences would be promoted in key markets such as Australia, the US and China which are helping drive New Zealand’s tourism recovery. The campaign plays on combining the appeal of eating (grazing) and star gazing.

“Stargrazing is based on consumer insight that New Zealand’s dark sky offering is increasingly important to 70% of potential off-peak visitors and for many visitors food is the number one topic of interest for 85% of potential travellers from our top markets,” de Monchy said.

The campaign is the first in the new off-peak strategy. De Monchy said New Zealand was competing for visitors among fierce competition from other countries.

The stargrazing campaign invited industry participants to submit their dark sky locations, in partnership with Christchurch NZ, and TNZ hosted international tastemakers at “the restaurant with the most stars” to put New Zealand’s night skies and world-class cuisine on the map.

Set beneath Kura Tawhiti at the foot of the Southern Alps, the pop-up Pou-o-Kai restaurant gathered media, tastemakers and social media advocates from TNZ’s key markets, including Australian food critic Sofia Levin, Ashley Day of the US’ Food and Wine and Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia will go on to share their experiences ot the event, including produce sourced from across the country for a unique menu prepared by New Zealand chef Ben Bayly.

ChristchurchNZ head of visitor economy Kath Low said stargrazing was a special campaign for Canterbury as it aligned with two key priorities of the region’s Destination Management Plan, culinary leadership and dark sky experiences.

“Canterbury’s advanced farming practices make it a unique destination for high-quality food production, which is then artfully prepared by our talented community of chefs in Ōtautahi Christchurch.”

Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.