Tourism NZ: TNZ’s global media coverage worth $200 million plus

Securing a high level of positive exposure for New Zealand as a visitor destination is critically important and the year's results produced an impressive 10,679 stories across digital, print and broadcast media in our key markets and beyond.

René de Monchy, TNZ's Director of Trade, PR and Major events said the year's results are hugely satisfying and are the result of consistent and coordinated work between TNZ's global and domestic PR and Major Events team, working alongside industry and RTOs.

"On average, these results mean we are seeing more than 200 stories a week around the world, promoting New Zealand as a destination. To achieve a result like that means constantly being on the lookout for new opportunities to keep our messages fresh and engaging enough to inspire people to book a holiday in New Zealand.

"By being very strategic about who we target and when we target, we are able to drive coverage that encourages travellers to visit more regions when they come to New Zealand and we can highlight the benefits of travelling to New Zealand in the off-peak seasons," said Mr de Monchy.

The results are the work of the PR teams in TNZ's overseas offices; a New Zealand based content team generating story ideas and producing content for the international media and TNZ's International Media Programme and major events and film team.

During the year, TNZ managed 178 hosted media visits, representing 383 media outlets through the International Media Programme. TNZ also generated news content that was shared via Tourism New Zealand's media website media.newzealand.com which had more than one million page views during FY17; 765k visits and 573 media enquiries.

Creating and distributing TNZ's own news content was highly successful, generating coverage worth $98.9 million in advertising value.

While the 2017 British & Irish Lions Tour provided opportunities to tell New Zealand stories in the UK, TNZ gained exposure further afield with a video story on the Rotorua attempt on the Guinness World Record for the world's biggest haka that gained considerable attraction in non-rugby cultures such as India.

The World Masters Games in Auckland provided an opportunity to create content around what to do in New Zealand after competing in the event, and a story and images of a visit to the Sky Tower by 101-year-old competitor Man Kaur created considerable interest in her home country.

Some of the highlights of the year include work with social influencers such as India's Sidharth Malhotra who visited New Zealand for a second time, generating 2191 stories across print, online, social, TV, with an advertising value of $4 million. Significantly, research shows a large proportion of our target market was strongly motivated towards New Zealand as a holiday destination as a result.

A China based campaign highlighting Wellington, Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough (WNTM) using two Chinese social influencers, generated 462 clippings and an estimated advertising value of $10.5 million, with results still to come. Video content generated 5.64 million viewers across multiple video sites.

In the major events and film work, the standout performers for the year were the 2017 British & Irish Lions Tour and Disney's Pete's Dragon, which both generated media coverage worth more than $5 million each.

The extensive campaign around Disney's Pete's Dragon was one of the most effective in the brand's history with 92 per cent of research participants who saw the campaign indicating that they are now more motivated to visit New Zealand as a result.

This year TNZ also introduced 'My Tourism New Zealand' so that operators and RTOs can see the international media results relevant to them.

René says: "We have an exciting year ahead. Our Bryce Dallas Howard campaign is already off to a great start and there will be many more opportunities to continue to tell the New Zealand story in a way that is inspiring and compelling. Continuing to work alongside industry and RTOs is vital to that success."