TNZ launches ‘Do Something New, New Zealand’

22nd May 2020 By Bridget O'Connell | bridget@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker

Tourism New Zealand has released the first major instalment of its new domestic work, as it steps in to encourage Kiwis to fill the yawning gap in the visitor economy left by absent international travellers.

The $500,000 Do Something New, New Zealand campaign launches today and will run on social media, on demand streaming services and traditional media websites.

It is part of an ongoing stream of work from the agency which will continue throughout the year with the aim of helping drive demand to the hard-hit tourism sector across New Zealand.

Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, international visitors accounted for around 40% of tourism’s $40.9bn contribution to the New Zealand economy, with the balance coming from domestic tourism.

New Zealanders also previously spent around $9bn on overseas travel each year, and capturing a portion of this spend domestically while the borders were closed would be critical to the sector’s recovery, according to Tourism New Zealand.

TNZ chief executive Stephen England-Hall said after taking a massive hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism sector was getting back up and running with many operators having opened their doors to welcome Kiwis.

“Now is the perfect time for Kiwis to make their ‘NZ must do’ bucket list item a reality.  We’ve all got things we’ve always wanted to see and do.  This campaign shares those moments and gets people thinking, why wait?” England-Hall added.

Prior to Covid-19, TNZ primarily focused on stimulating visitor demand from a portfolio of international markets, but it is now also supporting the country’s economic recovery by helping restart the tourism sector.  The work is focussed on encouraging domestic tourism and providing new tools, data and insights to the sector along with business support services.

The Do Something New, New Zealand campaign follows a social media campaign by TNZ encouraging Kiwis to travel safely as the country transitioned to alert level 2 last week.

The production and media cost for the campaign was $500,000. Special Group was the creative agency and The Sweet Shop was the production company.