Tourism NZ’s new campaign highlights ‘hidden gems’

Tourism New Zealand (NZ) launched a new campaign to highlight ‘alternative’ regions to Singaporean travellers in 2019. The areas highlighted in the campaign are Wellington, Wairarapa, Nelson, Marlborough, and Canterbury.

Since Singapore Airlines launched direct services to Wellington in 2016, interest in Singapore has grown ‘significantly’, according to Edwin Chiang, area VP Singapore, Singapore Airlines. The airline also has daily direct flights into Christchurch. Meanwhile, Air New Zealand will launch direct flights between Singapore and Christchurch in December 2019.

In the context of business events, Steven Dixon, Tourism NZ’s regional manager, South and Southeast Asia, told CEI that people who make decisions on where incentive groups go often have visited a destination first on holiday.

“Decision makers within an organisation go to the Marlborough Sounds, sit on a yacht, have a glass of wine, and go back on a flight and say ‘You know what? This will be a great spot for an event.' So it’s leisure-facing but we know that there could be a spin-off,” he says.