News & Activity

New major campaign to attract North American visitors to New Zealand

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

The campaign features a special offer for flights to Auckland in the low and shoulder seasons, with the option to add-on a visit to any one of Air New Zealand’s twenty domestic destinations. 

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says, “With the New Zealand borders now fully reopened to the world, a thriving tourism industry is important for both New Zealand and Air New Zealand. By launching new marketing activity in the US, we’re doing all we can to remind travellers that New Zealand and all its regions is a beautiful place to visit, any time of year.” 

“We’re excited to be kicking off our first three-way joint venture campaign since 2019 and reinvigorating our partnership with United Airlines in North America, extending Air New Zealand’s network in the region.” 

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive René de Monchy says, “The return of travellers to New Zealand and the recovery of air links from important markets such as North America is an important step for the tourism sector.” 

“We’re able to join forces with Air New Zealand so that destination New Zealand attracts high quality visitors from this important market. The campaign will encourage visitors to travel more widely around Aotearoa New Zealand to accelerate and support the sector’s recovery,” he says. 

Geraghty adds, “We’ve been flying to the US for more than 50 years – it’s an incredibly important market for us. It’s fantastic to see that over the next few months and leading into Christmas, flight loads are performing really well and by summer (in New Zealand), seat capacity will be back to around 85% of pre-Covid levels.” 

“To solidify this position, in just five days, Air New Zealand will for the first-time touch down at John F. Kennedy International Airport, making the non-stop Auckland – New York service the airlines seventh US port. 

“And to demonstrate our commitment to the Canadian market and due to an increase in demand, we’re excited to announce we’ll commence a daily service between Auckland and Vancouver.”

Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand have extended an existing MoU that will enable this and other activity over the next three years.

The campaign features a special offer for flights to Auckland in the low and shoulder seasons, with the option to add-on a visit to any one of Air New Zealand’s twenty domestic destinations. 

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says, “With the New Zealand borders now fully reopened to the world, a thriving tourism industry is important for both New Zealand and Air New Zealand. By launching new marketing activity in the US, we’re doing all we can to remind travellers that New Zealand and all its regions is a beautiful place to visit, any time of year.” 

“We’re excited to be kicking off our first three-way joint venture campaign since 2019 and reinvigorating our partnership with United Airlines in North America, extending Air New Zealand’s network in the region.” 

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive René de Monchy says, “The return of travellers to New Zealand and the recovery of air links from important markets such as North America is an important step for the tourism sector.” 

“We’re able to join forces with Air New Zealand so that destination New Zealand attracts high quality visitors from this important market. The campaign will encourage visitors to travel more widely around Aotearoa New Zealand to accelerate and support the sector’s recovery,” he says. 

Geraghty adds, “We’ve been flying to the US for more than 50 years – it’s an incredibly important market for us. It’s fantastic to see that over the next few months and leading into Christmas, flight loads are performing really well and by summer (in New Zealand), seat capacity will be back to around 85% of pre-Covid levels.” 

“To solidify this position, in just five days, Air New Zealand will for the first-time touch down at John F. Kennedy International Airport, making the non-stop Auckland – New York service the airlines seventh US port. 

“And to demonstrate our commitment to the Canadian market and due to an increase in demand, we’re excited to announce we’ll commence a daily service between Auckland and Vancouver.”

Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand have extended an existing MoU that will enable this and other activity over the next three years.

  • Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand have undertaken cooperative marketing activity under an annual memorandum of understanding since 2014.
  • During this time, the value of international tourism to New Zealand grew from $10.4 billion to $17.5 billion in the year ended March 2020.
  • Over the last two years, domestic tourism has been a key focus as both organisations have worked together to encourage kiwis to explore their own backyard. Cooperative activity to promote domestic tourism remains a focus for the year ahead.
  • In international markets, cooperative activity includes consumer and trade marketing to inspire travel to New Zealand as international markets re-open.
  • The MOU includes activity to support the development of New Zealand as a world-class sustainable visitor destination. Air NZ and TNZ are among the seven organisations that launched the Tiaki Promise in 2018.
  • The Tiaki Promise promotes responsible and safe travel behaviour and actively encourages (international and domestic) visitors to experience New Zealand in a way that keeps everyone safe, protects our environment, respects our culture and protects the country for future generations.
  • The USA is New Zealand’s third largest visitor market and contributed an estimated $1.54 billion to New Zealand’s economy in the year ended March 2020.