New Zealand launches brilliant tourism campaign just as it pauses quarantine-free travel from NSW

Tourism New Zealand has suffered some very unfortunate timing with the launch of its new tourism campaign designed to motivate its largest pre-COVID international visitor market to head across the ditch.

The campaign, ‘Stop Dreaming about New Zealand, and Go!’, features an Australian who dreams about New Zealand and is then guided through a range of the country’s attractions including national parks and stargazing with a surreal giant Kiwi.

Tourism New Zealand CEO René de Monchy said the new campaign seeks to inspire Aussies to stop dreaming and seize the opportunity to visit the Land of the Long White Cloud.

“Despite record numbers of Kiwis doing something new and travelling domestically, there is an estimated $12.9 billion annual gap from the loss of international visitors,” he said.

“The return of Australian visitors will go some way to helping reduce this gap, with both domestic and Australians about 70 per cent of the pre-COVID visitor market.”

“The campaign is designed to tap into people’s renewed desire to explore and showcases New Zealand’s natural environment, experiences and the warm welcome of our people.

“We are seeing longer itineraries being booked by Australians, which helps support travel to more remote locations within New Zealand.”

The campaign has been launched ahead of the New Zealand ski season, which is tipped to be a major driver of travel for Aussies over winter.

To support the tourism industry to leverage the new work, Tourism New Zealand has developed a toolkit that provides an overview of the campaign, as well as creative assets and details how partners can get involved through their own channels.

However, the campaign’s launch has suffered a stroke of bad luck, with the New Zealand government yesterday announcing a pause of quarantine-free travel from NSW for at least 48 hours while investigations continue into the missing link between overseas travellers and two community COVID-19 cases in Sydney.

New Zealand’s COVID-19 Response Minister, Chris Hipkins, said anyone who is now in the country and was at one of the exposure sites in NSW should isolate and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 for advice on getting tested for COVID-19.

“Anyone who is in Australia who has been at one of the locations of interest is subject to the requirements of the NSW government and should not travel to New Zealand,” he said.

“The government is aware this will cause some disruption to travellers, but strongly believes a cautious approach is the best course of action while investigations continue.”

All Aussie states and territories have announced various levels of restrictions for travellers who have been at NSW exposure sites.