Newsletter : July 2017
Written by Steph Kendall
Welcome to the New Zealand Tourism Guide www.tourism.net.nz July 2017 issue. If you have news or comments, please email us news@tourism.net.nz.
In this July newsletter:
- Star of Pete's Dragon Promotes New Zealand
- 100% Pure Shows Tourist Drinking River Water
- Lions Series 2017 - More Than Just Rugby
- New Zealand Welcomes Home the America's Cup
- Great Barrier Island Gains International Dark Sky Status
- New Zealand on Show to Brazil
- Koreans Falling for Pure New Zealand
- Tourism Site of the Month: Christchurch Helicopters
Star of Pete's Dragon Promotes New Zealand
American actress Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of director, Ron Howard) has directed a video series designed to encourage more of her compatriots to visit New Zealand. The six-part series and online content, developed in partnership with Tourism New Zealand and National Geographic, charts the Pete's Dragon and Jurassic World star's trip through the Bay of Islands, Waipoua Forest, Wellington and Queenstown.
Howard, who lived in Mt Maunganui and on a farm in Tapanui while filming Disney's Pete's Dragon in 2015, will also star in Tourism NZ's digital ad campaigns in the US and Canada and promote New Zealand in the US.
Tourism NZ said Howard's genuine love for New Zealand makes her a perfect ambassador for the country, "There is significant potential to grow the US market which is being helped by the increase in airline capacity and having a tourism ambassador of the calibre of Bryce Dallas Howard is a great opportunity to help grow that market."
Over 210,000 Americans holidayed in New Zealand in the year ending May 2017.
100% Pure Shows Tourist Drinking River Water
While concerns grow about the health of New Zealand's waterways, the latest "100% Pure" campaign released this month, shows a tourist drinking water from a river, something that would be dangerous in parts of the country.
The video has been watched more than 350,000 times on YouTube. It is set to run "in all of Tourism New Zealand's target markets," TNZ said. It comes in a year where both national and international agencies have highlighted water quality issues in New Zealand. About half of river sites monitored for E coli nationwide had median levels unsafe for livestock to drink, let alone humans, according to data from the Ministry for the Environment.
In a statement, TNZ said the ad "communicates the variety of experiences that can be had in New Zealand and consumer research tells us that it delivers this" and noted that 100% Pure "is not an environmental promise."
Lions Series 2017 - More Than Just Rugby
The DHL New Zealand Lions Series 2017 has been much more than rugby with over 20,000 Lions supporters toured the country following their team's fortunes. Throughout the tour, New Zealand turned on the hospitality with a festival of rugby themed events and fan zones. The tour included many displays of Māori culture including a powerful welcome on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds featuring 400 Māori warriors.
Records were broken in Rotorua ahead of the match with the New Zealand Māori All Blacks when over 7,000 people, including travelling supporters, took part in the world's largest haka which is expected to make it into the Guinness World Record book.
Seven New Zealand cities, from north to south, hosted the British & Irish Lions during the tour and all the games were close to a sell out with some completely full. Host cities were Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua and Wellington, in the North Island - and Christchurch and Dunedin, in the South Island. The Lions Tour was the biggest sporting series to be held in New Zealand since Rugby World Cup 2011.
New Zealand Welcomes Home the America's Cup
Emirates Team New Zealand and the America's Cup have been welcomed home with parades taking place all over the country. The America's Cup has visited Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin to be greeted each time by thousands of New Zealanders keen to get a glimpse of sport's oldest trophy.
Up to 80,000 spectators cheered the team on in Auckland led by Team NZ chief Grant Dalton and helmsman Peter Burling. There were similar scenes again in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin as enthusiastic home crowds turned out en masse to welcome home the team and the 'Cup'. An estimated 40,000 people turned out in Wellington for the sunny parade from The Beehive to Civic Square, while Dunedin crowds showered the team with confetti.
Great Barrier Island Gains International Dark Sky Status
Great Barrier Island, off the north-eastern coast of Auckland, has become the first island in the world to be designated an International Dark Sky Sanctuary meaning its night skies will now be protected for present and future generations. Great Barrier Island becomes the first island and only the third place in the world to achieve this status. The other two sanctuaries are in New Mexico (US) and Chile.
A Dark Sky Sanctuary has an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is protected for its scientific, natural or educational value, cultural heritage and/or public enjoyment. With much of Great Barrier Island off the grid, light pollution is minimized on the island, allowing for great viewing of the spectacular night sky. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says Great Barrier Island is home to a community focused on protecting and preserving its stunning natural beauty which makes it the ideal location to receive International Dark Sky Sanctuary status.
The island is accessible by air from Auckland, Coromandel, Northland, Tauranga and Hamilton, or by ferry from Auckland's downtown waterfront.
Great Barrier Island joins the Aoraki Mackenzie as a leading New Zealand astro-tourism destination. Aoraki Mackenzie is an International Dark Sky Reserve and must-do tourism experience for international visitors to New Zealand. Now with two recognised dark sky areas, New Zealand has become a premier destination for astronomers and lovers of the night sky.
New Zealand on Show to Brazil
Around 37 million people in Brazil are expected to tune into Brazilian TV show 'Camera Record' filmed recently in Queenstown, Akaroa, Kaikoura, Wellington, Waitomo, Rotorua and Whakatane.
"The show wanted to feature New Zealand's unique wildlife, geothermal areas and Māori culture," says Bjoern Spreitzer General Manager Americas and Europe. "We worked with regional tourism offices and operators across the country to give the show access to some unique and memorable activities such as going bush and tracking a kiwi and spending time with a Whakatane school dedicated to the development of Māori language."
Brazil is a market showing steady growth with flights to New Zealand from nearby Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile, with plans to extend the service. Since December 2015, arrivals from Brazil and Argentina have grown around 51% with nearly 30,800 visiting New Zealand.
Koreans Falling for Pure New Zealand
New Zealand is becoming a favourite destination for travellers from the Republic of Korea and visitor numbers are set to increase with the launch of a new Pure New Zealand online promotion. In the past year the percentage of travellers coming to New Zealand to holiday from the Republic of Korea jumped by 14%, and overall 83,152 Koreans visited in the year to May 2017.
Tourism New Zealand has partnered with Korean Air and Auckland International Airport aim to capitalise on this trend with a joint-promotion. The promotion ties in with Tourism New Zealand's campaign to encourage travellers to come to New Zealand in the shoulder seasons, spring and autumn, to even the spread of visitation.
Top Tourism Site of the Month
This month's Top Tourism Site Award goes to Christchurch Helicopters.
www.christchurchhelicopters.co.nz
Christchurch Helicopters offer scenic flights, commercial services and flight instruction. The new website showcases their tours and highlights of the Canterbury region. The website is fully responsive and its scrolling home page shows off the main content very effectively. The images are high quality, navigation straightforward and easy to use and headlines and text easy to read. It's worth looking at the Facebook page too (an easy link from the main navigation bar). This features videos of new initiatives, offers and beautiful photography by the company and its passengers. The content makes for interesting reading and viewing.
Nominate a Site
If you think a New Zealand travel or tourism website deserves a 'Top Tourism Site Award', let us know about it. (View further information about the award criteria).
About the Top Tourism Site Award
The New Zealand Tourism Guide confers a Top Tourism Site Award to websites that:
- Enhance New Zealand as a travel destination
- Publish useful and informative content
- Are laid out in a professional and aesthetically-pleasing manner
- Are designed effectively for the World Wide Web
- June demonstrate easy functionality, interactivity, originality, outstanding graphic quality and marketing reach.
We welcome any feedback — send your comments to: news@tourism.net.nz
Kind regards,
The Team
Ph 0800 14 65 49
www.tourism.net.nz
New Zealand Tourism Guide
Head Office: Ground Floor, 518 Colombo Street, Christchurch