New Zealand Benchmarking

New Zealand Marketing and Branding
Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) is the national tourism organisation
It handles all marketing with significant central government funding going into
this area.

In 2002 TNZ had a budget of NZ$ 60 million (UK 21.58M);approximately NZ$ 25 m
(UK 8.9m) is allocated to direct overseas and domestic marketing.Further indirect marketing expenditure brings the total spend closer to 70% or NZ$ 40 million
(UK 14.3 million).

In addition the Area and Regional tourism marketing spend has to be allocated although precise figures and areas of expenditure are difficult to identify. The future marketing strategy remains focussed on:

International Marketing
Brand building
International Event Location
Building and developing market research

The biggest discussion point is the 100% Pure New Zealand Campaign launched in 1999. It is a good example of strong brand management with enduring images, logos and consistency in terms of the message being promoted. There is little dilution
of the brand proposition and there would appear to be significant national buy-in to the established campaign.

It is directed to develop a unique brand identity, which should convey:

Warmth / friendly people
Authenticity
Diversity
Natural Attractions (scenery, landscape)
Relaxation, respite, escape
Adventure
Safety
Abundant wildlife (land and marine)

The campaign combines:

advertising,
internet,
international media coverage,
events,
trade training for destination marketing

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Events as key marketing tools
The use of events to promote the nation and gain media coverage along with the
sales training is worth some consideration. Close liaison with events sponsors for the purposes of maximising publicity and trade-training tools are worthy of merit.

The government has been very keen to use events to promote the nation and give it increasing international prominence. Particular success stories were:

The America''s Cup 2002/2003
The America''s Cup 1999/2000
The Millennium 2000
World Rugby Cup 2003
The APEC Summit in 1999

TNZ as part of their Events and International Media Programme undertakes
marketing via events and increasing destination awareness. Getting increased broadcast
media coverage is the primary aim of the programme. In the year to June 2002 the programme hosted 472 media organisations, including 52 TV crews from all target markets and hosted more than 300 visiting media across 27 New Zealand events.

TNZ had a presence for the first time in the Louis Vuitton Media Centre in
Auckland, during the America''s Cup 2002-2003. This allowed TNZ staff access to the 1500 media and allowed them to directly assist with filming locations, travel, itineraries, and general information onNew Zealand.

Appreciation of direct and indirect expenditure as a consequence of these
events is well understood at government level. New Zealand benefits from Tourism Satellite Accounts, which have adequately demonstrated at a national level the importance of tourism to the economy. At a political level this has helped make support for tourism forthcoming and helped focus attention on the winning and hosting of major events.

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Niche Markets
New Zealand enjoys a strong reputation as a good niche performer with a number of developed segments described below.

Backpackers.
The New Zealand offer has significant appeal to backpackers who contributed someNZ$701 m to the New Zealand economy in 2001. They are long stay visitors (39-40 nights) and are traditionally a youthful market segment.

Ski market
The ski market accounted for some 100,000 visitors in 2001, spending NZ$ 328 m and averaging 24 nights in the country. The growth in snow boarding and the quality of the snow and slopes contributed to the 25% increase in 2002 bookings.

Wine tourism
Wine tourism has emerged as a substantial new tourism product both internationally and domestically. It is estimated that there are over 3 million visitors to New Zealand wineries each year and of these between 20-25% are international visitors. This is a high yield market with an average stay of 20 days or more.

Wine Tourism is a niche taken very seriously by government and producers. Wineries are part of a differentiated and more sophisticated range of offers
to the tourist. The concept of combining New Zealand quality wines with a visitor experience that incorporates food, art, retail etc is building on strong foundations in Australia and the USA (particularly California). This type of tourism activity helps to move New Zealand perception away from the view of the country as a youthful, adventure tourism destination only.

Honeymoon tourism
Honeymoon tourism has attracted some 20,000 newly weds to the ''exotic and the familiar'' with significant appeal. The opportunities for skiing, sailing and white water rafting mean that the destination has appeal amongst the young. Expenditure is some 13% more that the average arrival and reflects the desire amongst such tourists to experience as much as possible and make the stay as memorable as possible.

Dual destination travel
New Zealand also benefits significantly from dual destination travel. Some 62.5% of New Zealand tourists in 2001 had incorporated another country as part of their tour. Australia and Singapore were the most common destinations followed by the USA, Fiji and Thailand.

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The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy and their impact
It is evident that the Lord of the Rings film trilogy has increased awareness but the extent to which this has increased visitation and has contributed to growth is more questionable.

In 2001/2 the government injected some NZ$4.5 million (UK 1.36m) into a campaign with the Lord of the Rings film trilogy distributor New Line Cinema. Such positive exposure is being reinforced by the joint locations of the Last Samurai (starring Tom Cruise) and the Steven Spielberg mini series on King Arthur.

Film locations and tourism impacts remain a difficult area to draw hard correlations and cause and effect relationships. It is interesting to note that following the making of the Lord of the Rings trilogy the New Zealand government reduced the incentive subsidies and tax breaks for film makers.

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The marketing of urban and cultural products.
Cultural and urban attractions are secondary marketing icons used less frequently and this reflects the relative merits of the New Zealand product.The country''s strengths lie in the quality and diversity of the natural landscape as opposed to any developed or constructed attraction base.

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The business and meetings market
New Zealand is not a major business and conference destination given its distance from major financial and business centres. Business tourism accounts for 11.8% of total overseas trips in 2001 with Australia the main business tourism-generating source. The gateway cities of Auckland and Christchurch are the destinations for most international business trade and it is here that the greatest growth in infrastructure (conference, exhibition centres and associated hotels) is likely.

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New Zealand''s appeal as a safe and secure destination
The low crime and terrorist activity record on the islands will reinforce the destination''s perception as a safe haven. Furthermore substantial tourism displacement from traditional Australian holiday destinations such as Bali (following the Bali bombing) is likely to boost arrivals in the medium term.

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Further Information and Links

VisitScotland's Marketing Strategy
VisitScotland exists to support the development of the tourism industry in
Scotland and to market the country as a quality destination.

This guide aims to put these marketing activities into context by giving you
an overview of VisitScotland's marketing strategy, letting you as an operator
find out how you fit into it, while offering practical tips and advice on where to
go from here. [more]