US aims for more tourists with NZ base

President Barack Obama. Photo / AP

The United States hopes to capitalise on the surge of New Zealanders heading to that country by setting up a dedicated marketing organisation in Auckland.

Brand USA works on private-public funding and is the first national, concerted tourist marketing approach around the world for almost two decades.

President Barack Obama started the campaign in 2009 to more actively promote America to the world by emphasising it was "open for business".

International visitors spend about $170 billion a year in the US and the campaign aims to boost this to $250 billion a year by 2021.

Latest Statistics NZ figures show that for the year to May, 127,000 Kiwis travelled to the US, up 14 per cent on last year.

Joe Ponte, Brand USA's strategic director for Australia and New Zealand, said it aimed to show that the US was more diverse than the four gateway states - California, Hawaii, Nevada and New York - that 85 per cent of Kiwis visited.

More diverse destinations would help drive repeat trips.

"It's good for us and good for travel agents in New Zealand - it's a high involvement purchase," Ponte said.

The near post-float high of the kiwi dollar against the US dollar had made America more affordable and was a factor in driving the upswing in numbers.

Although the kiwi has slid in the past two months, at US78c it was a long way from historic lows of US39c in 2000.

"Kiwis have long memories and they remember those exchange rates when the USA was an expensive destination. It's always got the potential to have an impact but I think it's a long way from deterring Kiwis from taking a holiday."

Air New Zealand runs the only non-stop services to the US although others such as Hawaiian, Fiji Airways and Air Tahiti Nui offer flights through the Pacific.

While internal air travel in the US can be expensive, if tourists were flexible and willing to add a road trip into the itinerary, costs could be reduced, he said.

Brand USA is funded at least half from the travel sector and through fees levied on some travellers.