Hawke's Bay and Dunedin launch collaborative campaign to encourage domestic tourism

You're Invited is a collaboration between Hawke's Bay Airport, Hawke's Bay Tourism, Dunedin Airport, and Enterprise Dunedin that aims to encourage domestic tourism. Photo / Supplied

Hawke's Bay and Dunedin have launched an inter-island campaign to push domestic tourism between the two centres.

You're Invited is a collaboration between Hawke's Bay Airport, Hawke's Bay Tourism, Dunedin Airport, and Enterprise Dunedin that launched last Friday and will run for two weeks.

Enterprise Dunedin manager John Christie said the collaboration is a great way to highlight both regions as exceptional domestic destinations.

"We're looking forward to seeing Hawke's Bay residents taking up the opportunity to visit Dunedin and experience its distinctive built heritage, unique wildlife and vibrant food scene," Christie said.

"Dunedin and Hawke's Bay both offer excellent visitor experiences with the added advantage of being gateways to the incredible beauty of their wider region."

Rob Stratford, CEO of Hawke's Bay Airport, is excited to see the campaign come to life.

"This is a first for New Zealand, in terms of two airports working together to stimulate tourism – but it just makes sense. We hope this campaign will encourage our friends in Dunedin to visit the beautiful Hawke's Bay, and vice versa," Stratford said.

"Our hope is that not only will we see a boost to our visitor economy, but we'll have created a new template for how we could work together with other regions in the future."

A competition run by The Hits provided the campaign footage, with winners from Hawke's Bay travelling to enjoy the best Dunedin has to offer and vice versa. Photo / Supplied

Richard Roberts, CEO of Dunedin Airport, agrees with Stratford.

"This is how airports should work together. We've created something that will benefit both regions, and we're really proud to see the campaign footage now playing throughout our airport," Roberts said.

Hawke's Bay Tourism CEO Hamish Saxton says it's a great opportunity for Dunedinites to rediscover all that Hawke's Bay has to offer.

"The last two years has seen thousands of New Zealanders do something new and explore their own backyard. It has been an absolute joy to see Kiwis from all over discover and rediscover how remarkable our region is, and this campaign is a fantastic extension of that," Saxton said.

"We can't wait to welcome our Dunedin, Central Otago and South Island mates to Hawke's Bay, New Zealand's Food and Wine Country, and to share our big blue skies, stunning natural landscapes, art deco charm and of course, world-class food and wine."

The Hits ran a competition where some listeners from each region won flights and access to the best visitor experiences on offer in the other region, providing footage for the campaign.

Dunedin winners enjoyed Craggy Range, the National Distillery Company, Teresa, Bellatino's, Piku and an Art Deco tour.

In Dunedin, the Hawke's Bay winners took in Emersons Brewery, Titi Restaurant, No.8 Distillery, Bacchus Wine Bar and Restaurant and Fable Hotel, as well as visiting Olveston House and Larnach Castle.