By Edward Robertson
Tourism Australia is hoping to kick start quarantine-free travel from New Zealand with the launch of an A$3 million marketing campaign.
With both countries having largely beaten their respective Covid-19 crises, unrestricted trans-Tasman travel will be allowed to resume on Monday, April 19.
In order to take advantage of the pent-up demand for travel and the few options available for trouble-free travel for New Zealanders, Tourism Australia has launched its first international campaign in more than a year highlighting the country’s many attractions.
Furthermore, anyone who does make the trip will find the usual tourist hotspots quiet as New Zealanders will be the first international travellers to be welcomed back en masse.
The move will also be a welcome boost for Australia’s tourism industry, with New Zealand being its second largest source market for international visitors and fourth most valuable for spend.
Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison: “As one of our closest neighbours and largest inbound markets, we have long held strong tourism ties with New Zealand, so we are really excited to be exclusively welcoming our friends from across the Tasman back to Australia.
“Australia has long been the most popular outbound travel destination for New Zealanders, who spent A$2.6 billion on their travels here in 2019. While the travel bubble won’t fill the void of all lost international business, it will provide an important boost to our industry by helping to drive demand to some of those areas that need it most.
“After a year of almost no international travel, there is a real opportunity for us to capture pent up demand by encouraging the 1.7 million New Zealand travellers who normally travel to other destinations overseas to instead choose Australia for their next holiday.
“That is why we’re calling on New Zealanders to take the opportunity to relax, reconnect with loved ones, and discover – or perhaps rediscover – some of the lesser-known parts of Australia that make us such an incredible holiday destination.
“Quarantine-free travel between our two countries is also an exciting and important step in rebuilding international tourism to Australia, and will also provide a framework for the resumption of inbound travel from other key international markets in time.”
The campaign launches in New Zealand from today and is scheduled to run until June 2021 across TV, out-of-home, online, print and radio, and will be supported by a range of PR and partner activities.
All marketing activity will be amplified via partnerships with airlines, state and territory tourism organisations and key distribution partners who will provide tactical offers aimed at stimulating travel to Australia from New Zealand.
