NZ on film bowls American tourists over

By SIMON HENDERY

On a bitterly cold winter morning in New York, travel writer Jim Ruggia has nothing but warm words to share on the subject of New Zealand.

America's more discerning travellers, he says, perceive New Zealand as serene and politically neutral - two big selling points at a time when their natural reaction is to look over their shoulders.

"Whenever they turn their mind to that part of the world they just see a big tranquil pond," says Ruggia, a senior editor with influential weekly industry publication Travel Agent Magazine.

Recent events have conspired to put New Zealand under the spotlight in the US: The America's Cup, the release of latest Lord of the Rings instalment, and the Prime Minister's starring role in a popular prime-time travel documentary.

Government marketing body Tourism New Zealand couldn't have wished for a better Christmas present than the resulting publicity.

With a record 201,000 US visitors arriving in the year to the end of November, it is New Zealand's third largest tourist market, behind Australia (624,000) and the UK (235,000).

US visitors are also prized because they rate second only to the Japanese in the amount they spend while in the country $4400 on average. Japanese travellers spend an impressive $4900 each. The average for visitors from all countries is only $3400.

While the number of US citizens travelling abroad plummeted after the terror attacks last year, arrivals into New Zealand are now back above 2000 levels.

A quarter of visitors came from California, while another 25 per cent were from six states: New York, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Colorado and Washington. Tourism New Zealand's US and Canada regional manager, Gregg Anderson, says Americans are increasingly looking for an "authentic" holiday experience the popularity of sheep shearing shows has given way to a walk out into the paddock with the farmer.

And the country's isolation, once a barrier to attracting tourists, is now seen as a strength.

Because it has a limited US marketing budget, Tourism New Zealand relies largely on media coverage of New Zealand as a tourism destination. Its Los Angeles office works hard to develop and maintain relationships with key broadcast and print media.

Tourism New Zealand spent about $250,000 covering some costs of producing the subscriber Travel Channel's documentary New Zealand: The Royal Tour hosted by travel journalist Peter Greenberg and Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton says the investment was made because the documentary, which will also screen worldwide on the Discovery Channel, would appeal to the type of high-spending traveller New Zealand wanted to attract.

"We're looking at people who are experienced travellers, who want the sort of holiday New Zealand offers, which is more of a lifestyle thing rather than a fly-and-flop experience. These [viewers] are the people who stay longer in New Zealand and spend more."

As well as devoting five days in April to filming the documentary, Clark travelled to the US this month to promote the show before its first screening. The media highlight of the Prime Minister's trip was a seven-minute appearance with Greenberg on the NBC's top rating Today Show.

Putting the Tourism New Zealand contribution to The Royal Tour into context, Hickton points out that a 30-second commercial spot on the Today Show costs about US$65,000 ($124,500) -"so we probably did okay out of it".

Several Lord of the Rings stars have also raved on television about their love for New Zealand.

Ruggia says he has been surprised to hear from those in the industry that the Rings publicity has prompted calls to New Zealand tour operators, but "apparently it's working".

* Simon Hendery travelled to the US as a guest of Tourism New Zealand.

* In tomorrow's Business Herald - Selling New Zealand Helen Clark-style