Singaporean media personality Joanne Peh was in New Zealand over
the weekend to shoot a series of tourism commercials that will
promote New Zealand as a holiday destination in Singapore.
The commercials are part of a multi-million dollar campaign
that is being launched by Jetstar, Tourism New Zealand and Auckland
International Airport in the South East Asian country next month.
The commercials will highlight a broad range of experiences and
feature New Zealand's diverse landscapes and attractions.
The new campaign will support the launch of Jetstar's daily
direct international service between Auckland and Singapore, which
commences on 18 March 2011. Ms Peh is one of Singapore's best-loved
television and film personalities, having shot to fame after
winning the titles of Miss Elegant and Miss Personality in the 2002
Miss Singapore Universe competition.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler welcomed the
campaign and said he looked forward to seeing it succeed in further
growing visitor numbers from Asia.
"The new Singapore-Auckland route creates opportunities for
growth, not only from Singapore, but also from neighboring Asian
countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, China, Indonesia, and the
Philippines. Additionally, the route creates a new link for
visitors coming from Europe.
"The Asian visitor market is critical to New Zealand, as the
growth in the number of people travelling internationally is
continuing to grow month on month.
"Attracting visitors from South East Asia to come to New Zealand
has proved challenging in the past due to the availability of
airline seats. Jetstar's new daily direct service to Singapore is a
big boost to New Zealand's visitor arrivals and is great news for
our country."
Jetstar Chief Commercial Officer David Koczkar said having Ms
Peh involved in the campaign was an exciting development for
tourism in New Zealand.
Her widespread appeal would attract visitors from Singapore and
across Asia to Auckland and throughout New Zealand, he said.
"Joanne Peh is a household name in Singapore, and her
involvement in this campaign is very significant for audiences
across the region. We're excited about the opportunity to broaden
the reach of Jetstar's fast growing Asia network, and introduce
this enormous travel market to everything New Zealand has to
offer," Mr Koczkar said.
"We believe the campaign will be hugely rewarding for Auckland
and New Zealand tourism, as visitors from Singapore and across our
Asia network choose to fly with Jetstar to see as much of this
beautiful country as possible."
In the 12 months ending December 2010, New Zealand welcomed
30,300 visitors from Singapore (up 2.4 percent compared
to the year to December 2009), 29,486 from India (up 16.4 percent), 21,434 from Thailand (up 8.6 percent) and 21,843 from Malaysia (up 10.9 percent).