Tourism Australia extends commercial relationship with Air New Zealand
1 July 2016
Tourism Australia and Air New Zealand have deepened their commercial relationship, signing a new marketing agreement aimed at promoting Australian tourism within key markets served by New Zealand’s long haul carrier.
The new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) extends an existing deal, signed in 2013, which has seen the two parties work together on a range of successful campaigns credited with helping significantly increase Air New Zealand bookings to Australia.
Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan, who spent time in Auckland this week meeting with Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon, said the new agreement would principally target the United States - Australia’s fourth largest inbound tourism market.
"International traffic from North America is growing at levels we haven’t enjoyed since the Sydney Olympics and this is due, in no small part, to the success of a range of targeted marketing activities we’ve carried out in this market with Air New Zealand.
“Alongside Air New Zealand’s strong brand, award-winning product and competitive airfares, this new agreement gives us a strong platform to further grow inbound tourism from what remains one of Australia’s most important inbound markets,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
Mr Luxon said Air New Zealand is delighted to be continuing the partnership with Tourism Australia to promote travel from North America to Australia.
“The United States and Canada are important growth markets for us as we continue to expand our Pacific Rim network. The addition of our Houston service late last year is attracting connecting passengers from the big East Coast markets, many of whom are experiencing Air New Zealand’s product and service for the first time.
“Our work with Tourism Australia has contributed to a 13.9% year on year increase in passengers travelling from North America to Australia,” said Mr Luxon.
The majority of marketing activities conducted by Tourism Australia and Air New Zealand over the past three years have been digitally focused, helping to showcase both Australia’s capital cities and also key regional destinations such as the Sunshine Coast. A key feature of these campaigns has been offering one common air fare to all Australian destinations.
Mr O’Sullivan said that marketing activities planned for 2016/17 would continue to make use of Tourism Australia’s well-established There’s Nothing like Australia campaign messaging, recently updated with new creative assets highlighting Australia’s best aquatic and coastal experiences.
Air New Zealand seamlessly connects North American travellers to Australia via Auckland with services from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and Vancouver. The introduction of a new Buenos Aires-Auckland service in December last year has also improved access to Australia from Argentina, Brazil and other Latin American markets.
For more information contact:
Tourism Australia
Leo Seaton
+61 447 463 197
lseaton@tourism.australia.com
Air New Zealand Public Affairs
+64 21 747 320
public.affairs@airnz.co.nz
