Tourism NZ is targeting visitors who will spend more in different parts of the country. Photo / Supplied
Tourism NZ is targeting visitors who will spend more in different parts of the country. Photo / Supplied
Tourism New Zealand is launching a $5.1 million multi-year campaign to sell the country to "high quality" visitors and, for the first time, targeting Kiwis with global adverts.
The ads will target not only the wealthy but also those potential visitors from overseas who will spend longer here, visit outsidetourist hotspots and engage with local people and experiences, Tourism NZ (TNZ) says.
Last week Tourism Minister Stuart Nash reportedly said he's not keen on attracting two-minute noodle-eating visitors promoting on Facebook how cheap New Zealand can be.
The "If You Seek" campaign takes what Tourism NZ says is a different approach to destination marketing by teasing audiences with snippets about what is on offer and inviting the curious, those who will take the time to seek more from their visit.
Tourism NZ chief executive René de Monchy said there was intense competition as other destinations, most closer to source markets, step up campaigns.
Asked how the new campaign would weed out two-minute noodle eaters, he said there was a range of criteria.
"High quality is not just about the money that you spend in the country, but also the interest you have and a culture and nature, how you want to contribute, how you want to explore," he said.
An image from Tourism NZ's first global campaign in two years. Photo / Supplied
"And certainly that's what we're going to be targeting around the world, looking for people who really want to explore and want to engage with nature, who want to tour our country, who want to learn from experience, all of... those things I think are increasingly core to the marketing work that we do."
De Monchy said someone on a gap year could be more valuable than an American tourist who has limited time to spend in this country.
In that context a long-staying backpacker will do many activities, see much of the country and get off the beaten path.
He didn't think they would be deterred from visiting and filling the many job vacancies in tourism and hospitality.
"From the work that we're doing I don't think so because we're looking for more of a mindset."
The new adverts, launching in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, China, Britain, Singapore, Japan, Germany, India, Korea and Canada, took a different tack than previous campaigns.
Not only is "If You Seek" a global campaign aimed at a local audience, the ads are more like teasers than giving the whole destination experience away.
"We're teasing the audience a little bit more. The temptation for a destination is to bombard people with the many things that you can do in a place - we want people to dig in, to take their time to research before they visit," said de Monchy.
Tourism NZ is targeting visitors who will spend more in different parts of the country. Photo / Supplied
The short clips for New Zealand would have different voice-overs but the campaign was "more efficient" because of the reach into the domestic market which, pre-pandemic, accounted for 60 per cent of the $41 billion annual tourism spend.
TNZ research shows that around two-thirds of New Zealanders intend to take a domestic holiday in the coming year, and 42 per cent are motivated to visit a local destination they haven't before on their upcoming trips, in spite of now having the option to travel overseas.
Since the reopening of New Zealand's borders there had been a surge in arrivals visiting friends and family but de Monchy said this was likely changing as more tourists arrived here. There were anecdotal reports of strong school holiday demand from Australian tourists, especially in ski destinations.
All around the world constrained supply of flights and accommodation and strong travel demand was pushing up prices, against a background of higher inflation across the board.
It was hard to assess how this would affect travel patterns over the next two to three years.
"We're in this sort of weird period at the moment where this is the first travel that people can really commit to in over two years. People are booking with short lead times they're paying prices that historically they wouldn't - I'm not sure that that's going to be the ongoing trend."
