Tourism New Zealand's strategy in Germany is to keep awareness
of New Zealand high, ensuring New Zealand is at the top of the
wish-list for German travellers.
A five-city marketing campaign, attendance at key consumer
events, PR activity to keep New Zealand's profile high in the
media, and ongoing work with German travel sellers are helping to
drive strong growth in arrivals from this market.
Campaign
Last year Tourism New Zealand moved to promoting New Zealand in
targeted German cities, rather than taking a countrywide
approach.
Most recently '100% Pure New Zealand' advertising ran in market
between January and March 2010. It focused on five key cities:
Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Munich. Activity ran
online, in cinemas and outdoors. The campaign was very successful,
driving increased traffic to the German language version of Tourism
New Zealand's www.newzealand.com website
(http://www.newzealand.com/travel/Neuseeland-Reisen/).
A joint consumer
campaign with Singapore Airlines ran throughout April. It
included online advertising on TripAdvisor and major newspaper
websites, and advertising on outdoor screens in Hamburg, Munich,
Frankfurt, Cologne and Dusseldorf.
Tourism New Zealand and Qantas ran a joint online campaign in
Germany for four weeks in February and March. Qantas promoted a
special fare to New Zealand and reported the campaign was
successful, both from a branding and sales perspective.
Media
German actress Sophie
Schuett toured New Zealand in February 2010, filming a travel
programme that will screen in Germany in August and again in
December. The 30-minute programme Das is mein Neuseeland
will be shown seven times on German television to an audience of
around 400,000 viewers. The show is also rebroadcast in hotels,
train stations and airports in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and
parts of Italy, reaching up to 300,000 more viewers.
Swiss travel programme Schweizer Fernsehen Unterwegs
screened a 45-minute episode on the South Island on Swiss public
channel SF1 in March 2010 to an audience of 475,000. Viewers could
also get further information on New Zealand on SF's
website.
A New Zealand travel feature appeared in
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany's main
national daily newspapers (circ. 369,690), in May 2010. Journalist
Jakob Strobel travelled to New Zealand in March as part of Tourism
New Zealand's International Media Programme. His lengthy article
enthused praise for his New Zealand experience. For
example, he writes of his arrival into Wellington
harbour...the shore is lined with amazing white wooden houses
and the promenade is filled with even more beautiful people,
joggers, skaters, cyclists... Jakob
Strobel will deliver a second travel story in FAZ later
in the year.
Events
Tourism New Zealand and Best of Travel Group held a successful
consumer event in Munich in March 2010, attended by about 300
people.
The 'Row Box', an interactive 'virtual' experience designed to
promote the 2010 World Rowing Championships in Karapiro, toured key
European regattas throughout the northern summer 2009. Housed
within a converted shipping container, the 'Row Box' uses
interactive digital technology to give people a closer view of
Karapiro both on and off the water.
Trade
Promotions with several trade partners are underway to support
the 'Go All the
Way' backpacker campaign. Targeting younger European gap-year
and backpacker travellers, this campaign encourages travellers to
'Go All the Way' to New Zealand on their round-the-world trip.
German activity includes online advertising and a radio
promotion.
Sales campaigns are also underway with TUI Germany promoting
shoulder season travel to New Zealand.
Tourism New Zealand continues to run online 'webinar' training
to the German speaking markets (Germany, Switzerland and
Austria).