New Zealand has turned in a winning performance in the UK, being
voted favourite long-haul country by readers of the
Guardian, the Observer and www.guardian.co.uk.
At the annual Reader's Travel Awards announced recently, New
Zealand beat Cambodia, Chile, Vietnam and Japan to take the top
spot. Air New Zealand was named second-favourite long-haul carrier
after Singapore Airlines.
Andy Pietrasik, Travel Editor for guardian.co.uk, said the fact
that more readers this year voted for New Zealand showed that there
were still many travellers seeking to get as far away as possible
from the bad news at home.
"New Zealand also scored more highly than last year in winning
this category, showing that the New Zealand experience has lost
none of its appeal during the recession. This will stand it in very
good stead as the travel environment improves," he added.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said it was
important that New Zealand continued to be recognised by travellers
in what was currently a difficult market.
In the year to August 2009, New Zealand welcomed 260,000
visitors from the UK, down 10 per cent on the previous year.
Arrivals from the UK have been impacted by the global economic
downturn which hit the UK in late 2008 and early 2009.
George Hickton said the award was a positive endorsement by
travellers, which supported the message of Tourism New Zealand's
'What Do You Say UK?' campaign. The campaign is currently running
online and on television in the UK. Advertisements feature real
British travellers recommending New Zealand to other Brits.
Tourism New Zealand Regional Manager UK and Europe Gregg
Anderson collected the award and said many of the other award
winners expressed renewed optimism for the next 12 months.
"While the months ahead, including the New Zealand summer, will
remain challenging, enquiry levels and bookings continue to improve
overall," he said.
The Guardian newspaper has a circulation of 332,000,
its weekend sister paper the Observer reaches 405,000
readers, while its online version - www.guardian.co.uk - has over 1.5 million
unique users.
This is the second win for New Zealand in the UK in recent
months. In September, New Zealand was ranked in second place as
'favourite destination' by readers of the prestigious UK Condé
Nast Traveller magazine. It was the sixth year in a row that
New Zealand ranked in the top five of these awards.
See a
full list of awards won by New Zealand and Tourism New
Zealand
Read more
about the United Kingdom in our online market guide
For further information contact:
Cas Carter on 021 915 410