Tourism Auckland Launches Domestic Advertising

Tourism Auckland Launches Domestic Advertising Campaign

Tourism Auckland this week launched a nationwide advertising campaign to lure more domestic visitors to the region.

The campaign has been launched to help boost forward bookings as Auckland heads into the traditionally quiet winter period. Tourism Auckland has been joined by 57 industry partners - including Air New Zealand - in funding the campaign.

Tourism Auckland's Chief Executive Graeme Osborne says domestic tourism is big business for New Zealand operators, with plenty of scope for growth.

"Domestic tourism accounts for nearly half of the total economic value of the tourism industry in New Zealand, with around 16.6 million domestic tourists annually," says Mr Osborne.

"Auckland has already increased our market share of international tourists, with around 30 per cent of all visitor nights spent in Auckland. Now we're turning our attention to the domestic market, of which we currently have around 13 per cent share," he says.

A component of the campaign, which includes television, billboard, newspaper and direct mail advertising, will include educating Aucklanders about the attractions in their region.

"Around 40 per cent of domestic visitors to Auckland are here to visit friends or relatives," says Mr Osborne. "We need to ensure Aucklanders are more proactive about promoting their region. Auckland has recently been ranked the sixth best place in the world to live - and we want to share it with other New Zealanders."

Although the number of American and Japanese visitors has dipped, figures from December show that overall international visitor numbers to Auckland increased by 0.1 per cent on December 2000, compared to a 1.3 per cent decrease nationally - showing that Auckland is back on track despite global events.

Major events in Auckland over the summer, including the Volvo Ocean Race stopover, helped to boost numbers, says Mr Osborne.

ENDS

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