Tourism garden an excellent opportunity for New Zealand

New Zealand will be on show at London’s prestigious Chelsea Flower Show for the first time next year.

A garden bearing Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Pure brand, and featuring a hot mineral pool, thermal terraces, Marae, and Maori sculptures, will show at the annual event in May. Landscape artist Trish Waugh will lead the design team, which will also involve Maori artists, and designers from Wellington’s Weta Studios. The garden is expected to use over 1300 native plants.

Tourism Minister Mark Burton discussed the event today with BBC producer Owen Gay and presenter Wesley Kerr, who will be visiting New Zealand in December to begin their coverage of the garden’s development.

“This is an exciting opportunity to showcase New Zealand’s landscape and culture to an international audience in a very unique way,” said Mark Burton.

“New Zealand’s ideal visitors—high-yield, high-value, “interactive” travellers—come to New Zealand for authentic experiences with our natural and social environments. They tend to show a high level of interest in cultural activities, like to get out into the regions of New Zealand, and enjoy sampling a wide range of tourism products.

“What better way to show off our incredible diversity to these potential travellers than by building a little piece of New Zealand right in their own back yard?

“New Zealand already enjoys a high profile in the United Kingdom, with UK visitor numbers second only to Australia. Indeed, earlier this year, UK magazine Wanderlust named New Zealand as their top travel destination for the third time running.

“But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels or become complacent. It’s vital that we continue to find innovative, exciting ways to market New Zealand’s unique attributes to the world. This garden, which combines the inspiration of talented artists and the creative genius of the Weta Studios’ team, is an ideal way to achieve this.

“I congratulate all those involved in this project, and know that New Zealand will make a big impact on this important event.”

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