Tourism New Zealand's strategy in Canada is to build awareness
of New Zealand as a holiday destination through the 100% Pure New
Zealand campaign and brand advertising, PR activity and trade
development. Working closely with Air New Zealand, our work is
focused on British Columbia (Vancouver) and Ontario (Toronto).
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Campaign
Media
Trade
Campaign
Tourism New Zealand's 2009/10 Canadian advertising activity
launched in October 2009, promoting travel over the New Zealand
summer. The campaign included advertising on television and digital
billboards in Toronto and Vancouver, along with some national
one-off placements. Air New Zealand supported all activity with its
own campaign.
New Zealand was one of two highlighted countries at the
three-day Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival in April 2010. Tourism
New Zealand and Air New Zealand both had booths at the
international festival, which showcased 35 New Zealand wineries and
had over 30,000 consumers visit the event.
Media
A video of Canadian Tween idol Justin Bieber's bungy jump
off the Auckland Harbour Bridge in late April went viral on the
Internet and was a profile boost for New Zealand among the singer's
young Canadian fans. Tourism New Zealand worked with Universal and
AJ Hackett to arrange the private jump from Auckland Harbour
Bridge.
Canadian television show Chef Abroad visited New Zealand early
last year, with episodes featuring New Zealand airing on The
Food Network in Canada in September 2009. The show is hosted
by famous Canadian chef Michael Smith.
The September issue of Canada's More Magazine ran a
nine-page 'Kiwi Tales' article on New Zealand. Journalist Linda
Lewis visited in February 2010 and the article shares her
experiences in Auckland, Rotorua, Hawke's Bay and on the Whanganui
River. The magazine is targeted to women over 40 and has a
circulation of 160,000.
In September, Prime Minister John Key was featured in the Top 10
segment on the Late Show with David Letterman, which
screens in Canada as well as the US.
In October, Air New Zealand's 'Matchmaking Flight' took off for
New Zealand from North America with 100 singles, The
Bachelor's Jason Mesnick and his girlfriend Molly Malaney.
They were joined on board by six media outlets: www.MSNBC.com, www.Gadling.com, www.Lemondrop.com, www.Examiner.com, Sun Media
from Canada and freelance journalist Terry Gardner (Huffington
Post).
As well as coverage of the flight and singles party, hosted by
Air New Zealand in Auckland, New Zealand stole the limelight in
North America when Jason and Molly announced their
engagement in Queenstown, while on a famil hosted by Tourism
New Zealand.
Trade
March 2009 marked the first time Kiwi Link North America visited
Canada. Thirty-seven New Zealand tourism operators and 84
Canadian travel sellers attended the event. Sustainable practices
were incorporated across Kiwi Link North America in 2009,
emphasising New Zealand's commitment to sustainable tourism.
In September 2009, 20 US and Canadian travel agents travelled to
New Zealand for the 'Life Back Promise' famil. 'The New Zealand
Life Back Promise' is a tagline used in Tourism New Zealand's
advertising in the US. To show how their clients can get their life
back in New Zealand, the agents were divided into two groups and
given different itineraries to explore the two islands. They all
finished in Queenstown, where a half-day workshop was held so the
agents could share their experiences.
Anderson Vacations ran a New Zealand promotion to travel agents
across Canada in January 2010, recruiting new Kiwi specialists and
giving away a trip to New Zealand for one lucky agent. Tourism New
Zealand attended the Anderson Vacations travel agent shows on the
East Coast of Vancouver, training 120 agents on New Zealand.
Tourism New Zealand joined forces with Flight Centre Canada and
Air New Zealand to run a month long New Zealand campaign across
Canada in March 2010. The campaign activities included online and
newspaper advertising and features on the www.flightcentre.ca website
and storefronts across Canada. As a follow up to the
campaign, Flight Centre and Contiki are sending 25 Flight Centre
staff to New Zealand for a familiarisation visit in May 2010.
In celebration of their 40th anniversary this year, Goway Travel
is giving away 40 trips for two to North Americans over 40 weeks
during 2010. New Zealand will be one of these trips, with support
provided by Air New Zealand. Goway has also been announced as a sub
agent for Rugby World Cup 2011.
Air Canada Vacations has started a South Pacific programme and
training on New Zealand has been undertaken with their reservation
agents. They will continue to build on their New Zealand program
over 2010.
Tourism New Zealand's weekly 'Webinar' training series continues
to focus on regions and New Zealand experiences, allowing regional
tourism organisations and product operators in New Zealand to
participate. On average, 80 North American agents a week are
joining these sessions and feedback has been exceptionally
positive.