New Zealanders the first welcomed back to Australia 

Media release

New Zealanders are being invited to take advantage of exclusive travel access to Australia and enjoy all of the experiences and destinations that have long made Australia such a highly sought-after destination among international travellers.

With two-way, quarantine-free travel between the two countries to commence from Sunday 18 April 2021, Tourism Australia is kicking off its first international campaign in more than a year to remind New Zealanders of all the incredible experiences that await them across the Tasman.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said that she hoped New Zealanders would make the most of the two-way travel bubble and enjoy being the first international travellers back to Australia.

“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,” Ms Harrison said.

“Australia has long been the most popular outbound travel destination for New Zealanders, who spent $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 new A$3 million ‘Be the First’ campaign will kick off 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, the State and Territory Tourism Organisations and key distribution partners who will provide tactical offers aimed at stimulating travel to Australia from New Zealand.

More information on the campaign can be found at www.australia.com/en-nz

Background

• Two-way, quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand will commence from 11.59pm NZST (9.59pm AEST) Sunday 18 April 2021.
  
• New Zealand is Australia’s second largest source market for international visitation and fourth most valuable for spend.
  
• Australia has long been the most popular outbound travel destination for New Zealanders, comprising 40 per cent of NZ outbound Leisure travel in 2019.
  
• Of the 3.1 million New Zealanders who travelled internationally during 2019, 1.4 million travelled to Australia, comprising 15 per cent of all Australia’s international arrivals.
  
• Of the total $2.6 billion spent in Australia by New Zealanders during 2019, $1.9 billion (or 73 per cent) was for Leisure (Holiday and VFR). On average, a NZ Leisure visitor spends $1,940 per trip to Australia.
  
• More than 90 per cent of Australia’s NZ arrivals are repeat visitors. This familiarity with our country is a huge strength, and an opportunity to encourage them to explore new and less familiar Australian destinations.
  
• NZ visitors are Australia’s third largest source market for regional dispersal, spending 4.2 million nights in dispersed regions.
  
• In 2019, trans-Tasman routes contributed 18 per cent of all international inbound seat capacity to Australia.