Hon Louise Upston
Minister for Tourism and Hospitality

The 'Everyone Must Go' campaign encouraging Australians to pick New Zealand for their next holiday has hit its results out of the park, bringing in thousands of visitors in a boost for regional economies and tourism operators.

Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston says ‘Everyone Must Go’ was initially targeted at 6,750 additional arrivals over the autumn but ended up significantly exceeding expectations.

“‘Everyone Must Go’ has been a winner,’” Louise Upston says.

“Tourism NZ stats released to me show it delivering an additional 7,981 visitors to smash its initial forecasts. It also attracted significant attention on both sides of the Tasman, and got Kiwis and Aussies talking about New Zealand as a destination.

“Tourism is a key part of our plan to grow the economy, create jobs, lift wages and help Kiwis get ahead. ‘Everyone Must Go’ is a great example of the sector and Government working together to achieve these goals.

“We knew Aussies would recognise it as a great opportunity. Just like they grabbed Phar Lap and pavlova, it’s proved the same story with ‘Everyone Must Go.’

“A key part of this campaign’s success were the deals the tourism industry came to the party with. This team approach showed we can deliver great results for the sector when Government and industry are joined up and working towards the same goals.”

More than 800 deals from 450 operators across accommodation, transport and experiences were available during the campaign.

The initial $500,000 campaign spend delivered a solid return on investment, leading to an additional $300,000 to give the campaign a further boost.

“This campaign was the first Tourism Boost initiative, and these positive results show that with the right investment in the right markets we will drive economic growth.

“Every one of those Australian visitors who ate at cafes and restaurants, visited tourist attractions and shopped in our towns and cities has helped the New Zealand tourism sector grow, and boosted the Kiwi economy in the process,” Louise Upston says.

Notes:

• The Autumn campaign targeted an additional 6,750 visitors (above baseline growth) from Australia between March and May and delivered an additional 7,981 arrivals over the period.
• 6,804 arrivals were directly attributable to bookings made via the campaign and an additional 1,177 arrivals were from the indirect halo effect of conversion activity in market over and above the campaign.
• The additional 7,981 visitors generated an estimated $22M in incremental visitor spend (29 per cent ahead of the campaign target of $17M).
• Across Autumn 2025, the total number of visitor arrivals from Australia increased by more than 24,000 – up from 307,338 last year to 331,571 this year. These additional 24,233 visitors generated an estimated $67M in visitor spend.
• The campaign had support from the industry including:
  • strong collaboration with airlines, hotels, travel agencies and online travel platforms;
  • 450 tourism operators providing 800 deals on TNZ’s newzealand.com website and generating over 7,400 commission-free referrals.

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