Tourism New Zealand Launches New Global Campaign in Partnership With National Geographic

Image: PHOTO: Waka Abel Tasman (photo courtesy Tourism New Zealand/Camilla Rutherford)
Image: PHOTO: Waka Abel Tasman (photo courtesy Tourism New Zealand/Camilla Rutherford)
Janeen Christoff
by Janeen Christoff
Last updated: 8:01 AM ET, Tue February 19, 2019

Tourism New Zealand has launched a new tourism campaign in partnership with National Geographic. This is the second joint campaign, and this one will be introduced on a global scale.

The focus is on connecting visitors to New Zealand's people as well as its natural beauty. Visitors have shared that one of the best parts of their visit is engaging with local people and the warm sense of welcome they receive makes their visit very memorable.

New Zealanders call this feeling manaakitanga, an indigenous Maori concept representing a unique style of hospitality, generosity, and kindness, is something that all travelers talk about upon their return home from the country.

"New Zealand has long been known for its stunning landscapes," says Tourism New Zealand chief executive Stephen England-Hall. "What we hear from visitors, however, is that it's the local people and warm sense of welcome they receive that makes it such a special, memorable place."

Tourism New Zealand will bring this to life through a new branded content series from National Geographic Travel.

The tourism board will also educate travel agents nationwide about manaakitanga and connections between New Zealand's people, land and culture with the help of six Travel Trade Ambassadors hosted by the tourism organization.

These ambassadors will star in a social media campaign and a series of training videos that follow their own journeys of manaakitanga.

"We are thrilled to continue our creative partnership with Tourism New Zealand for the second year," says Deborah Armstrong, EVP, National GeographicPartners. "We began an exciting digital campaign last year with Bryce Dallas Howard as TNZ's spokesperson and have now expanded our New Zealand storytelling by featuring an illustrator, photographer and family travel expert. Each capturing the spirit of New Zealand and it's people through their own unique lens and sharing their experiences with our Nat Geo consumers across this global campaign."

Both series of content connect travelers and travel advisors to local New Zealanders from Kaikoura, Nelson Tasman, and the Bay of Plenty. These individuals welcome visitors and share their personal stories and beliefs of what makes New Zealand so unique.

The National Geographic content has been targeted to global audiences in English with dedicated sites for Brazil, the U.K. and Germany.

Members of the travel trade can also engage with Tourism New Zealand through the travel agent Facebook portal and learn more about New Zealand from YouTube videos.


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