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Joint Venture Fund Announced

Date Published: 21 January 2010

Prime Minister John Key has today announced details of a joint venture marketing fund that could result in a NZD10 million marketing boost in Australia.

John Key announced that eight groups will share NZD5 million to market their regions.

This fund will be matched with Regional Tourism Organisations (RTO) and private sector funding to create an unprecedented opportunity to create a NZD10 million marketing fund, which will be particularly focused on Australia.

The joint venture fund will see RTOs and Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) work together in order to maximise marketing impact.

The funding will go to Tourism Auckland, Destination Waitomo, Destination Rotorua, Central Park, Positively Wellington Tourism, Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism, Queenstown Group, and Ski Tourism Marketing Network.

John Key said New Zealand was a collection of beautiful but diverse regions, each with its own unique attractions.

"This is an opportunity for those regions to use their distinctive selling points to attract Australian visitors while ensuring it is coordinated with TNZ's 100% Pure New Zealand campaign," John Key added.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said this was an important boost for marketing in New Zealand's biggest visitor market.

"We want Australians to think about New Zealand in bite-sized chunks so they come and come back. This marketing fund will help New Zealand to achieve incremental growth in visitation," he added.

Tourism Auckland Chief Executive, Graeme Osborne, described the Government's joint venture fund initiative as a bold and exciting mechanism for aligning marketing spend.

"The leveraged impact achieved from this coordinated marketing activity is sure to deliver a multiplied visitor benefit to both Auckland and New Zealand," he said.

Positively Wellington Tourism Chief Executive David Perks applauded the government's initiative in not only boosting funding, but coordinating a united front.

"Bringing central government, regions and commercial partners together not only adds tremendous value to all of our investment, it ensures we are singing from the same song sheet.

"The coordinated approach benefits not just individual businesses, not just regions, but the entire country. This is exactly what we needed to begin to change the way Australians see New Zealand to the benefit of all," David Perks said.

The funding will go towards raising the profile of the following regions:

  • Auckland ($1,000,000)
  • Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Dunedin ($250,000)
  • Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing ($600,000)
  • Central Park (Rotorua, Taupo, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay, Ruapehu, Coromandel) ($442,000)
  • Wellington, Wairarapa, Taranaki and Marlborough ($1,000,000)
  • Canterbury ($775,000)
  • Queenstown and Lake Wanaka ($463,000)
  • Ski tourism ($370,000)
  • RTO campaign tracking research ($100,000)

Read more about Tourism New Zealand's marketing work in Australia