Six Releases From Tourism New Zealand

RECORD SPENDING BY VISITORS TO NEW ZEALAND
NEW ZEALAND OPERATORS WORLD CLASS
STRONG SUPPORT FOR GLOBAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN
PURENZ.COM GOES MULTI-LINGUAL
SILVER FERN TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT TRENZ
NEW CHINA POSITION FOR TOURISM NEW ZEALAND

22 May 2000

MEDIA RELEASE

RECORD SPENDING BY VISITORS TO NEW ZEALAND

Visitors are spending more money when they come to New Zealand.

Figures released by Tourism New Zealand today show that the total amount visitors spend has increased by 19 percent to 4.3 billion dollars for the year ended March.

This brings an additional $667 million foreign exchange into the New Zealand economy.

This follows visitor arrival figures released on Friday that show a 9.7 percent increase in visitors to New Zealand

Announcing the news at TRENZ in Christchurch, Chief Executive George Hickton says the latest statistics show that the growing tourism industry is playing an increasingly key role in the New Zealand economy.

“The figures show that we are not only attracting more visitors, but these visitors are spending more money each day they are in New Zealand.”

The average spend per day has increased since March 1999 by 14.5% to $166 per day, and spend per visit has increased by 9.6% to $2,879 per person per visit since March 1999.

The International Visitor Survey figures show good news from Japan. Each Japanese visitor in New Zealand spends an average of $4,600 per visit - an increase of 18%, while their daily spend leapt by 31% to $320. Despite the number of visitors dropping by 2% last year, visitors from Japan have increased their spending by 18.5% to $674 million to the year ended March.

Other markets also showed promising results. Australia’s total spend is up by 15% to $803 million, while the USA is up to $596 million.

The key results of Foreign Exchange Earnings from International Visitors for the year Ended March 2000 include:

Australia
Total spend $ 803 million – up 15%
Spend per visit: $1,702 – up 10%
Spend per day: $140 – up 5%

UK
Total spend: $517 million – up 6%
Spend per visit: $3,199 – down 2%
Spend per day: $111 – down 5%

USA
Total spend: $596 million – up 5%
Spend per visit: $3,496 – down 5%
Spend per day: $267 – up 2%

Japan
Total spend: $674 million – up 18.5%
Spend per visit: $4660 – up 18%
Spend per day: $140 – up 5%

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22 May 2000

MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW ZEALAND OPERATORS WORLD CLASS

Sumptuous Pacific Rim cuisine, unspoiled landscapes and friendly, sparkling eateries and knowledgeable service are features that have helped two New Zealand operators make a global ‘hot list’ in a prestigious American travel magazine.

The Condé Nast Traveler has just released its Hot List 2000 - top new hotels and restaurants from around the globe – and the list includes Queenstown’s Blanket Bay Lodge and Euro restaurant in Auckland.

Condé Nast said that Euro is the ‘sparkliest of the sparkling new eateries lining Auckland’s Princes Wharf’ and went on to praise both the atmosphere of privacy as well as the ‘glorious wine list’.

Being far removed from the ‘accoutrements of civilisation’ is one of the chief virtues the magazine cited for choosing Blanket Bay Lodge in Queenstown as one of the best hotels in the world. Describing it as one of New Zealand’s most elegant and intimate hotels, the lodge gets a special mention for the unspoiled view of Lake Wakatipu and the friendly and attentive staff.

Congratulating owners and staff of Blanket Bay and Euro, Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton says the two awards help to profile New Zealand as a quality top destination.

“It is good to know that when people are thinking of the best the world has to offer, they are thinking of New Zealand,” he said. “International awards like these are something that is an enormous boost to the profile of our country. Combined with our 100% Pure campaign we aim to keep New Zealand upper most in the minds of travellers.”

Condé Nast sent out their reviewers and field reporters around the world, incognito, and came up with what they thought were the most irresistible new restaurants and hotels. They narrowed down several hundred starters to 60 ‘hot tables’ and 36 ‘hot hotels’.

The poll follows New Zealand being named the best country in the world by Condé Nast readers last year and gaining top marks for environmental friendliness, safety, people and hospitality. Earlier this year the magazine’s readers also voted two of New Zealand’s luxury lodges into the 500 best places to stay in the world.

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22 May 2000

MEDIA RELEASE

STRONG SUPPORT FOR GLOBAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

The Zealand tourism industry has shown strong support for Tourism New Zealand’s global marketing campaign through its investment.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton says since the launch of the 100% Pure Global Marketing campaign a total of $6.4 million has been invested by over 100 tourism industry partners in 13 countries.

“This shows the strong level of support for New Zealand and for the way we are marketing it,” he says.

Tourism New Zealand’s global marketing campaign has now been seen by a potential audience of almost 70 million people.

Launched in July last year, this is the first year that the 100% Pure Global Marketing Campaign will be seen at TRENZ.

Mr Hickton says the campaign has now been launched in all New Zealand’s main markets – Australia, North America, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Japan.

“Since its launch, the print advertising has featured in 189 targeted publications with a readership of 12 million people while the television commerical has screened over 26-thousand times.”

“We have also hosted well over one thousand international journalists in New Zealand since July last year.”

The campaign features images that represent different experiences in New Zealand.

“We have chosen images that characterise the feel of the country, rather than trying to get a broad representation of all our regions and activities.”

“The choice of images are based on extensive research reflecting consumers impressions of New Zealand, but we are also trying to introduce some new facets of our country that are not so widely known internationally such as our arts and culture,” he says.

Mr Hickton says another measurable success of the campaign has been the use of the 100% Pure New Zealand website.

“In seven months there have been almost 500 thousand user sessions on Purenz.com. The average length of each session has been around twelve minutes.”

May 2000

MEDIA RELEASE

PURENZ.COM GOES MULTI-LINGUAL

Tourism New Zealand’s website, purenz.com, is going multi-lingual with the launch of a Japanese language version at TRENZ this month.

And Tourism New Zealand says Chinese Mandarin and German versions will be on-line by the end of June.

“Our vision is a global one,” says George Hickton, Chief Executive of Tourism New Zealand, “and this new development is another step towards making that vision a reality.”

Mr Hickton says Tourism New Zealand wanted to ensure it was adequately communicating to the Japanese market.

“In Asian countries, English is still a barrier for potential visitors,” says Mr Hickton. “Although it is recognised as the language of business, potential tourists feel more comfortable conversing in their native language.”

Mr Hickton says economically, Japan is an important market for New Zealand

“ Japanese visitors spend more than any other visitor per day at an average of $320 a day, an increase of 31% in the last year. “

The use of the internet is expected to increase in Japan with over 19 million households in Japan now having access to the Internet.

The new versions of the site are a direct translation of Tourism New Zealand’s award-winning site and can be found under the same web site address. They will give potential visitors an understanding of the destination before they arrive – climate, countryside and attractions – all in their own language.

Launched in July 1999, purenz.com has an average user session of twelve minutes, with 3600 user sessions daily. There were over 112,000 user sessions in March 2000 alone.

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May 2000

MEDIA RELEASE

SILVER FERN TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT TRENZ

World-famous environmental artists Martin Hill and Philippa Jones will create another of their thought-provoking sculptures to an international audience in Christchurch this week.

Using one of New Zealand’s most recognisable symbols, the couple will mould an environmental sculpture with silver fern fronds on-site at Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand (TRENZ).

“This work is a great advertisement for our global marketing campaign ‘100% Pure New Zealand’, said Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton. “100% Pure is about our authenticity, our warmth, our diversity and our unique identity. Our environment is an integral part of what we are as New Zealanders, and this is a great opportunity to raise awareness.”

Avid rock climbers, the artists usually create their environmental sculptures in rather more precarious locations, often in areas only accessible by rock-climbing. The top of Mt Ngauruhoe and the lip of the north face of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park have been sites for their work as part of ‘The Fine Line Project’. This series links 12 sculptures on 12 high points around the earth linked by a symbolic line starting from our own Mt Ngauruhoe.

Working with materials they find on-site, they create sculptures which are captured on film and then left to be dispersed by the elements and absorbed back into nature.

Mr Hill says he was pleased to be given the opportunity at TRENZ to highlight the work that they do.

“Working inside in this way is unusual, but we are looking forward to increasing awareness of sustainability and environmental issues.”

The couple hope their work will draw attention to the impact we are making on the environment.

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22 May 2000

MEDIA RELEASE

NEW CHINA POSITION FOR TOURISM NEW ZEALAND

For the first time, Tourism New Zealand has appointed a representative to be based in Mainland China.

Helen Zhang has been appointed as Projects Manager Northern China for Tourism New Zealand, as of June 5th, 2000.

“We are pleased to welcome Helen onto the Tourism New Zealand team,” said Chief Executive George Hickton. “China has great potential and a specific presence will assist us develop this market.”

“The latest visitor arrival figures from China for the year ended April 2000 have increased by 66% to 27,522. This can be attributed partly to New Zealand receiving Approved Destination Status for holiday traffic,” says Mr Hickton.

Helen Zhang will be based in the New Zealand Immigration Service office and will be responsible for trade training and marketing, developing tactical promotions and publicity in Shanghai, and partly Beijing.

From a background in the hospitality industry, Helen has worked for the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza for the last eight years. Her most recent role was as Senior Sales Manager, responsible for room sales of all the Holiday Inn Chain in China and Hong Kong

Helen will take over much of the Northern publicity, as well as Beijing-related work. Southern China will continue to be dealt with by Tourism New Zealand’s office in Hong Kong SAR.

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