Latest News from Tourism New Zealand

Already 30,000 curious Kiwis have visited the website for 'The Great Kiwi Invite', a new tourism campaign launched by the Prime Minister on Friday.

‘The Great Kiwi Invite’  campaign calls on all New Zealanders to support the tourism industry and become ambassadors for their country.  The campaign is a Tourism New Zealand initiative encouraging New Zealanders to get in touch with friends and family overseas and invite them over for a visit, with an added incentive of the chance to win return Air New Zealand flights

Kiwis have been quick to sign-in to the website and send invitations. By Monday evening - only three days after the campaign website went live - 10,000 Kiwis had registered to send invites to their friends and family and 3,500 of these invitations had been accepted.

"This campaign is about using one of our best assets, good old fashioned Kiwi hospitality, to help New Zealand’s economy in these tougher times," says George Hickton, Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive. 

Read more about 'The Great Kiwi Invite' campaign

Start inviting your friends and family - they could fly to New Zealand for free! Sign-up online at www.thegreatkiwiinvite.com

It’s not easy being green, but over 240 tourism businesses have shown it can be done by achieving Qualmark Green enviro-ratings in the past year.

Since the launch of the Qualmark Green programme one year ago, over 1,600 tourism businesses have been assessed against Qualmark’s enhanced responsible tourism criteria.

Of those, 50 have immediately reached Enviro-Gold standard - the highest ranking available under the system.

"We are delighted that we’ve got 200 accredited businesses and 50 who went straight to Enviro-Gold," says Qualmark Chief Executive Geoff Penrose. "The Qualmark enviro-rating system is demanding and thorough so that’s quite an achievement in just 12 months."

Read the full story online

One of the biggest names in Thai pop music, Ice Sranyu, will visit New Zealand in September - along with 60 of his fans.

Ice Sranyu, known as the ‘Prince of Smiles’ for his charm and cheeky good looks, will travel to New Zealand along with 60 Thai tourists for the ‘7 Days Dream Tour’. The group will be made up of members of the rapper’s fan club and lovers of adventure activities.

The tour is being run by Royal Orchid Holidays (owned by Thai Airways International), with support from Tourism New Zealand and Citibank, in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of 100% Pure New Zealand.

Read the full story online 

Tourism New Zealand is calling on the expertise of its offshore managers to provide in-depth market updates at next week’s Inbound Tour Operator’s Council (ITOC) conference.

Representatives from Tourism New Zealand's executive team will also present at the conference, alongside Prime Minister and Tourism Minster John Key, PATA Regional Director for the Pacific Chris Flynn, and author Ian Brodie, who wrote From Lord of the Rings to the Hobbit: Creating Film Tourism Opportunities.

Read the full story online

The Ministry of Health recently released an updated 'Question and Answer' fact sheet for travellers on Influenza A (H1N1), also known as Swine Flu.

The fact sheet includes information about seeking advice before travel and how to get help if travellers fall ill while in New Zealand.

Download the factsheet from our website