Tourism Queensland aims to lure more Kiwis to the Tropical North
Posted by editor (editor) on Jun 10 2010
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Tourism Queensland will join forces with Tourism Tropical North Queensland, Cairns and Auckland Airports to increase the state’s focus on New Zealand as a priority tourism market and encourage more Kiwis to cross the Ditch and visit the Tropical North.

Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor, who was in Port Douglas for a Tourism Queensland board meeting yesterday, said the strategic venture would focus on new opportunities to grow the New Zealand market over the next three years.

“Kiwis and Aussies have long been best mates and Queensland is the Kiwis’ favourite Australian holiday destination,” Mr Lawlor said.

“They are also at the top of our list of repeat visitors, coming back again and again and while the south-east part of the state has traditionally been their most popular destination, we want to get them thinking about the Tropical North for their next Australian holiday.

“The Tourism Queensland Board met with local industry in Port Douglas yesterday and one of the outcomes of our discussions was a commitment to work with key partners to develop new opportunities for the New Zealand market.”

Tourism Queensland Chairman Don Morris AO said Pacific Blue’s introduction of two weekly direct flights between Auckland and Cairns last month made it easier than ever for New Zealanders to travel to Tropical North Queensland.

“These flights add an extra 360 seats into Cairns from Auckland each week and add to Air New Zealand’s existing 456 seats,” Mr Morris said.

“Air New Zealand currently operates three services a week and as a Star Alliance carrier brings visitors from the US and Europe into Tropical North Queensland and have been for the past 21 years.

“Last year the New Zealand market to Queensland was the single largest inbound tourism market with 424,000 direct arrivals into Queensland.

“There is good opportunity to increase the number of arrivals over the next three years and the region has a fantastic variety of experiences to appeal to New Zealand travellers, including backpackers, adventure seekers, families and empty nesters.

“Additionally, the large number of ex-pat Kiwis living in Queensland makes the Tropical North an ideal destination for New Zealanders visiting friends and family.”

Mr Morris said during Tourism Queensland’s last board meeting, board members met with representatives from Auckland Airport to discuss opportunities for growing the New Zealand market into Queensland.

“Auckland Airport has a strong investment in Queensland through its links with Cairns and Mackay Airports which means the Tropical North is ideally positioned to capitalise on this relationship,” he said.

“In the year ended June 2009, Auckland Airport had 7.4 million international passenger movements, second in the region only to Sydney which had 11.8 million for the same period.

“Anecdotally, it also appears that a portion of visitors flying into Queensland from New Zealand are either Aussies returning home or visitors from countries as far away as China, Japan and the US.

“What this tells us is that in some instances New Zealand is also acting as a conduit between Queensland and other global holidaymakers and, through strategically targeted Queensland messages, we’re able to reach a wider audience than just our Kiwi mates.”

Mr Morris said it was no secret that Japan, which had long been one of the Tropical North’s key international markets, had been struggling for some time.

“While Tourism Queensland will continue its commitment to Japan, we also need to increase our focus on other markets which have good growth potential – and New Zealand will be one of these priorities over the next three years,” he said.

Mr Lawlor said $700,000 had been committed to growing the New Zealand market to Queensland as part of the State Government’s Tourism Action Plan to 2012, announced in January.

“Tropical North Queensland will benefit from this funding through a variety of initiatives including marketing activity, publicity, and media and travel agent familiarisations,” Mr Lawlor said.

“Over the next three years we will be working closely with partners such as Tourism Tropical North Queensland, Cairns Airport and Auckland Airport to develop a range of initiatives which will encourage more Kiwis to choose the Tropical North for their next holiday.”

Last changed: Jun 10 2010 at 2:43 PM