Aruna Gaitonde
Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Mumbai 
Like many other countries globally, Tourism New Zealand’s activity to support the recovery of the tourism industry begins as the country moves to alert level 2 and safe travel starts.
Referring to the country’s latest step, Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen England-Hall said: “Before COVID-19, tourism was the beating heart of New Zealand’s economy, employing one in eight people and helping communities thrive. As we move into alert level two, the tourism sector is one that can get back on its feet to help communities start to rebuild.”
The New Zealand Government had given the Tourism New Zealand responsibility to undertake domestic activity. This activity will include research, insights, campaigns, engagement and marketing activity to ensure the tourism industry are well-positioned for recovery.
According to Tourism New Zealand, it is estimated that before COVID-19 about 23.7 billion of New Zealand’s tourism expenditure came from New Zealanders themselves. New Zealanders previously spent $9 billion on overseas travel per year. Capturing a portion of this spend domestically while the country’s borders are closed will be critical to the sector’s recovery.
A package of domestic activity is underway and will roll out soon, including Social media activity encouraging safe travel working with the regional tourism organizations and operators to help them promote their regions and products to New Zealanders.
A nationwide campaign to encourage Kiwis to get out and experience their backyard is in progress, which includes the development of insights and data packs for the industry to learn more about the domestic audience so they can tailor their offering to them; and content partnerships with key media outlets.
