Latest News from Tourism New Zealand

Visitor arrivals for February have shown a continued return to growth and stability after last year’s economic downturn.

Australia continues to underpin New Zealand visitor arrivals, up 4.3 per cent (3,737) in February compared with 2009. However, other longer-haul markets are beginning to come back.

Kevin Bowler says that while Tourism New Zealand plans to keep a high profile in Australia, stimulating growth in long-haul markets including the US, UK/Europe and China remains a priority for the longer term.

Arrivals from China and other Asian markets were buoyed by the Chinese New Year holiday, which fell in February this year.

Read our latest market update for full details on all key markets.

New Zealand is staring on prime-time television in Australia this week, as the final four contestants on Biggest Loser Australia are put through their paces in the Auckland and Northland regions.

Tourism New Zealand hosted the Biggest Loser contestants and crew in February for several days of challenges.

The first of five New Zealand episodes went to air Monday night to an audience of around one million.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says the contestants' experiences will help bring New Zealand to life for Australian television audiences.

Read more on our website

Some of our top young musicians are helping promote New Zealand, in a new-look tourism campaign that launched recently in Australia.

Working in partnership with MTV Australia, Tourism New Zealand is showing young Australians New Zealand through the eyes of Kiwi artists Scribe, the Mint Chicks and Liam Finn.

MTV's 'Guide to New Zealand' follows the Kiwi musicians as they visit some of their favourite restaurants, music venues and surf spots.

The campaign is aimed at 16 to 24-year old Australians who make up a key segment of first-time visitors from this market.

Read more on our website, or check out 'Scribe's Guide to New Zealand' on www.mtv.com.au.

Watch Nightline's story on the campaign (Monday 22 March)

Tourism New Zealand's media website - www.media.newzealand.com - is proving a hit with journalists around the world.

More than 315,000 visits to the site were recorded in 2009, up 36 per cent on 2008. Of those, nearly 50 per cent of visitors to the site returned on a daily basis and 75 per cent returned within a week.

Recent highlights include a feature on the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail, which was picked up in China by six magazines including Modern Weekly (circulation 535,000) and Noblesse (circulation 103,000), along with more than 50 separate online news outlets and one trade newspaper.

Read more about the media website

Find out how Prince William, Kiwi actor Alan Dale and a large kauri carving are helping spread the word about New Zealand

Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011) is just around the corner and media from our key international markets are looking for rugby-related stories. Our PR team is constantly on the hunt for new rugby stories, so send your ideas to: news@tnz.govt.nz

Rugby stories don't have to be brand new tourism products - you may have added a rugby aspect to an existing product, know a local rugby personality or have a unique rugby story to tell about your region.

Let us know if you have itinerary ideas for groups of rugby fans travelling together, or for partners who are left behind while their other half is at the games.

We bid a sad farewell to Cas Carter, Tourism New Zealand General Manager Corporate Communications, next week.

Cas leaves us to join Massey University, where she will take the position of Assistant Vice Chancellor, External Relations. Cas has made a valuable contribution to Tourism New Zealand's executive team and as the leader of our Corporate Communications strategy over the last 10 years.

Her final day with Tourism New Zealand will be Wednesday 31 March. Sue Allen will be Acting General Manager Corporate Communications while the recruitment process is completed.

• Australian television and radio personality Jules Lund has been in the country this week, exploring the Dunedin, Southland and Fiordland regions. Find out more about what he's been up to.
   
• Tourism New Zealand and the Ministry of Tourism are seeking further feedback on the revised ADS Code of Conduct, which will take effect from 1 May 2010. See our website for further information about the review process and a draft of the revised code. Feedback is due by Friday, 9 April 2010.
   
• A group of 900 top executives from South East Asia helped boost visitor numbers to the Queenstown region earlier this month. The incentive group was secured thanks to a famil run by Tourism New Zealand and Destination Queenstown. Read more.
   
• Check the Markets and Stats section of our website for visitor arrivals statistics for each of our key markets. Latest data from the International Visitor Survey (year-ending December 2009) will be uploaded this week.

Tourism New Zealand is now on Twitter. Follow us to keep up to date with our news and what's new on our corporate website.

Find us at http://twitter.com/TNZNews or search for @TNZNews.

You can follow our @PureNewZealand - http://twitter.com/PureNewZealand - account for travel deals and updates targeting international travellers.