KEY POINTS:
Tourists are excited about being able to send free video postcards home, thanks to Tourism New Zealand's new Have Your Say mobile studio.
International visitors can now record a short video diary which is edited and posted via satellite on either YouTube or Facebook, depending on where they have a profile.
"This is a great chance for my parents to see how I'm doing here," says Rachel Ingham, 28, who left her west Yorkshire home four months ago to travel to Australia and New Zealand.
Anita Kiel, 29, from Germany, says her friends are missing her a lot and enjoyed seeing her describe her first few days in the country.
The Have Your Say mobile studio debuts in Auckland for a four-month road trip around the country this week. It will travel as far south as Invercargill and Bluff before making its way back to Auckland by late April.
The shipping container turned studio is laid on the back of a flatbed truck and will travel to 50 destinations all over the country. Its interior, measuring 2m by 1.7m, is designed to resemble a tui nest to reflect the nature and scenery of New Zealand.
The aim of the service is to spread the word about New Zealand's tourist attractions and ultimately to attract more tourists.
Have Your Say is a development of the successful What Do You Say UK? campaign launched in Britain last September.
Tourism New Zealand's research in Britain showed that word-of-mouth was the strongest motivator for travellers to come to New Zealand.
"Using these electronic video diaries is a step closer to getting that immediate word-of-mouth recommendation back to people at home," says Tourism NZ chief executive George Hickton.
This latest campaign, however, is not only aimed at the British market. Being available on YouTube makes it accessible to anyone in the world.
"So far," says Mr Hickton, "we've had visitors from Canada, Australia, UK, US, Japan and Germany record messages and send them home".
