New Zealanders from across the country will be eagerly awaiting
the results of a prize draw to find out if their friends and family
are the winners of 15 free flights to New Zealand.
More than 80,000 Kiwis sent invitations to friends and family
offshore as part of Tourism New Zealand's 'Great Kiwi Invite'
campaign, which closed on Thursday morning.
The winners of 15 pairs of Air New Zealand flights to New
Zealand will be announced live on TVNZ Breakfast tomorrow (Friday,
28 August) before 9am.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton says the
response to the campaign has exceeded expectations. "We are
delighted to see so many New Zealanders so enthusiastic about
promoting their country as a visitor destination."
Over the past month, Kiwis have been able to log-on to the
campaign website www.greatkiwiinvite.co.nz and register to send
personalised invitations to their loved ones offshore, inviting
them to come down to New Zealand on holiday.
Nearly 88,000 invitations were sent, with just over 38,000
people accepting the invites and going in the draw to win the free
flights.
"This campaign is about making the most of the passion New
Zealanders have for their country and that good old Kiwi
hospitality," says George Hickton. "Word of mouth is one of our
most powerful marketing tools and New Zealanders are our best
advocates."
The campaign was designed to help boost visitor numbers during a
challenging year for the New Zealand tourism industry. Visitor
arrivals for the year to 31 July 2009 were down 2.8 per cent
compared with the same period last year, largely due to the impact
of the global economic situation in New Zealand's major tourism
markets.
The 'visiting friends and family' sector remains resilient, with
more than 760,000 visitors travelling here to see friends and
family in the past year, up 3.7 per cent.
"This shows that despite the economic situation, people will
still travel to visit their friends and relatives," says George
Hickton.
Tourism New Zealand has worked closely with TVNZ to promote the
campaign. As well as television advertising over the past month,
Breakfast presenter Tamati Coffey broadcast live from popular
tourist destinations around the country this week, to raise the
profile of the campaign.
He will make the prize draw live on air Friday morning from the
i-SITE Princes Wharf Visitor Centre.
Read more about
'The Great Kiwi Invite'
For further information please contact:
Cas Carter, Tourism New Zealand
Mob 021 915 410