Kia ora THE
I hope you all had a successful start to 2025. Early signs for the summer season are encouraging, with Stats NZ’s provisional data for international arrivals in the four weeks to 5 January up 12% year-on-year, and at 91% of the same period in 2019. The rest of summer is looking strong too with indirect bookings up 17% compared to last summer, according to IATA.
As the summer season continues to see growth, Tourism New Zealand’s focus for 2025 will remain on building consideration for year-round travel to New Zealand, with a particular focus on off-peak, and converting that desire into bookings to support our four-year strategy.
There is plenty of exciting work under way. To build desire for New Zealand as a year-round destination in the UK, we’ve launched a partnership with Russ Cook, aka The Hardest Geezer. Russ is a cultural icon in the United Kingdom, known for running extraordinary distances and it will be fantastic having him on our shores. He'll be running the length of the country, showing off New Zealand from end to end to his audience of over two million people. This project launched overnight in the UK and has already generated hundreds of pieces of coverage and some great reach through Russ’s channels.
Russ Cook, aka The Hardest Geezer
In the USA, we’re partnering with a high-profile US lifestyle and content platform to showcase New Zealand through our food, people, adventures, and culture to drive spring arrivals. We’ll share more in March as this launches.
We also have activity launching across all our markets in March and April that will showcase New Zealand as a year-round destination full of fun and adventures. Keep an eye out for this too.
Working with the trade channels will always be an integral part of Tourism New Zealand’s strategy to convert arrivals. This year we will roll out our refreshed New Zealand Specialist Programme across all markets and host in-market trade shows and roadshows to engage travel sellers on the ground. We’ll hold events across North America, UK and Europe, India, and Southeast Asia this year. You’ll find event prospectuses and registration information in our website.
I met with the new Tourism and Hospitality Minister, the Hon Louise Upston, on her first day in her new portfolio. We’re look forward to working with the Minister on her priorities for our sector. These priorities include increasing the value of international tourism in line with the Government’s aspirations for economic and export growth. As one of New Zealand’s largest export sectors, international tourism has a significant role to play in this. As a first step, the government announced that new visa conditions will visitors to work remotely in New Zealand for up to 90 days for an overseas employer or client. Find out more here.
We’re looking forward to continuing to work with you to deliver strong results for Aotearoa New Zealand in 2025.
As always - if you have any questions, feedback, or want to get in touch with myself or one of the Tourism New Zealand team, please contact us.
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