The push is on to get North American tourists to Queenstown and Auckland. Photo / Supplied
The push is on to get North American tourists to Queenstown and Auckland. Photo / Supplied
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, Auckland Airport, and Destination Queenstown are teaming up to sell New Zealand's gateway city and the southern resort town to North American leisure, business and incentive travellers.
Now that border restrictions are easing, the three organisations are working together on joint sales calls and in-market representation,road shows, media and travel agent visits and promotion through owned channels.
They will develop itineraries that will focus on both regions: food, golf, luxury, outdoors, arts and culture, ''low-carbon experiences,'' and a specific incentives itinerary.
With little sign of the Chinese tourist market recovering as the country keeps borders closed, the US and Canadian markets have extra importance for the battered visitor industry.
''This partnership aims to invite travellers to visit two complementary New Zealand destinations – Queenstown, with its majestic landscapes and world-class experiences, and Auckland, with its bustling, cultural vibrancy within the Hauraki Gulf," said Richard Thomas, Destination Queenstown chair.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in the US this week pushing the ''New Zealand is open'' message and has some tourism business representatives, including Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui, with the touring party.
Auckland is the main gateway for North American tourists. Photo / Brett Phibbs
In the year before the pandemic almost half (46 per cent) of all visitor spend from the US was spent in Auckland and Queenstown. North America has also been identified as a priority market by both Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand. Total US visitor spending in 2019 was more than $1.5 billion.
The US was Auckland's third largest visitor market in 2019, with over 290,000 visitor arrivals to Auckland Airport (10.6 per cent of total).
By the end of this year Auckland will be connected to seven non-stop destinations year-round in North America; Los Angeles, San Francisco , Houston, Chicago, New York, Honolulu, and Vancouver.
Following the launch of the New York service on September 17, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will be the most connected city in Australasia to North America with seven, year-round, non-stop destinations on offer and 60 flights per week.
The connection between Auckland and Queenstown is strong with 50 flights per week.
Representation in the North American market will be supported by a local agency. Tātaki Auckland Unlimited has contracted Pacific Storytelling to represent the region on the ground in North America, further to a contract Destination Queenstown already has in place with the agency.
Destination Queenstown is leading a sales mission through the US north-east corridor covering Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC in July.
Funding details of the partnership's joint push are not yet available and more details of activities will be confirmed and shared ''in time''. No targets around visitor numbers have been set.
After more than two years of the pandemic, the focus is on rebuilding relationships in market.
Scott Tasker, Auckland Airport's general manager aeronautical commercial, said before the pandemic more than 80 per cent of North American visitors to New Zealand touched down in Auckland.
"As aviation recovers, we're seeing a real eagerness from airlines to restart those connections and in some cases, like Air New Zealand, develop new routes. It not only provides a great choice of airlines for visitors to Aotearoa New Zealand, but will also drive the tourism recovery,'' he said.
''We expect arrivals from the USA alone to overtake China as our second biggest tourism market this year and hold that position until at least 2026."
Many of the US largest corporations have a presence in Auckland, including Google, Microsoft, IBM, GE, AIG, Pfizer, Citigroup and AT&T among others.
''The US is also a significant market for trade and investment attraction – the second-largest source of foreign direct investment into New Zealand and Auckland, and it is an opportunity for us to showcase what our country has to offer," said Tātaki Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill.
