Giant Rugby Ball to Showcase New Zealand Touches Down in London

Date: 21 November 2008

Tourism New Zealand is banking on a fresh UK campaign and a giant inflatable rugby ball to get Brits out of a UK winter and down to New Zealand as the industry here faces tougher times.

The giant Rugby Ball has completed its Channel Crossing from storage in France and is now installed alongside London’s famous Tower Bridge.

The Ball is another phase in Tourism New Zealand’s campaign to woo British travellers to visit New Zealand now and in the run up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton says the new UK campaign and the Ball have come at a vital time for New Zealand’s tourism industry, with visitor numbers dropping from many major markets, including the UK.

In September, Tourism New Zealand launched a $7.3 million campaign in the UK based on research that British travellers are most likely to make their travel decisions based on talking to other Brits.

The UK is New Zealand’s second largest tourist market with over 288,823 visitor arrivals in the year to October 2008. UK arrival figures have been in close to double digit growth for most of the last decade, but in the year to October growth slumped by minus 3.7 per cent.

Mr Hickton said the global credit crisis meant the New Zealand tourism industry was facing a slower summer as people were more cautious about travelling.

"Rather than pulling back on marketing, it is vital for New Zealand to invest in building our market share to sustain numbers from the UK and to position New Zealand well for when the upturn happens," Mr Hickton added.

The Rugby Ball Venue has already proved itself to be an eye-catching way to build New Zealand’s profile. When it went up in Paris in the final stages of the Rugby World Cup 2007, more than 25,000 went through the ball and a further 138 million viewers, readers and listeners saw or heard about it.

Read key facts about the giant Rugby Ball Venue

For media enquires please contact:
Sue Allen on 029 917 5466 in New Zealand or Cas Carter in London on 00 64 21 915 410

Source: Tourism New Zealand Media Release