1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,840
Speaker 1: Some made fun of it, but the Everybody must Go

2
00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:03,800
Speaker 1: tourism campaign appears to have hit the mark. The plan

3
00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,520
Speaker 1: was to target Australians. We wanted six thousand, seven hundred

4
00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:08,600
Speaker 1: and fifty extra arrivals. Did we get them, Yes, we did,

5
00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,559
Speaker 1: and then some We got seven nine hundred and eighty one.

6
00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:14,040
Speaker 1: And while they were here they spent another twenty two

7
00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:16,640
Speaker 1: million dollars. Louise Upston is of course the Tourism Minister

8
00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:17,520
Speaker 1: and is with us very.

9
00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,360
Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning Mike.

10
00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:21,600
Speaker 1: So the ad Agency will be happy apart from anyone else,

11
00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:22,040
Speaker 1: won't they.

12
00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,680
Speaker 2: Well, it's great for New Zealand because tourism is a

13
00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:27,800
Speaker 2: big part of our plan to grow the economy and

14
00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,200
Speaker 2: we act with urgency and Australia delivered. They came one

15
00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:32,200
Speaker 2: over in great numbers.

16
00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:34,360
Speaker 1: Yes, they did well. Well, when you say great numbers,

17
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,800
Speaker 1: we're a three million plus market annually, so sixty seven

18
00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,479
Speaker 1: hundred is hardly shifting the needle. But what sort of

19
00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,880
Speaker 1: potential does Australia still have as a market.

20
00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, so what we know is there's Australia is the

21
00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:51,960
Speaker 2: market that is the closest to us, our biggest mark,

22
00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,720
Speaker 2: and we know they make their decisions quickly, so that's

23
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,200
Speaker 2: why we targeted Australia in this first campaign. Listen, we're

24
00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,640
Speaker 2: still only at eighty seven percent of the visitor numbers

25
00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,200
Speaker 2: from what we had pre COVID and that's why Australia

26
00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:08,840
Speaker 2: tends to and will continue to be a focus for

27
00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,240
Speaker 2: us in the short term. Of course, every Australian that

28
00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,280
Speaker 2: comes over, stays in our accommodation, eats in a restaurant,

29
00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,880
Speaker 2: shops in our shops is great for our economy and

30
00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,759
Speaker 2: that's why we're so focused on tourism as a growth boost.

31
00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,120
Speaker 1: What's your vibe given your experience so far, as Minister

32
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,560
Speaker 1: is as simple as I mean, it's not like we're

33
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 1: we're they don't know we're here. So is it just

34
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,399
Speaker 1: simply just get in front of them and go, hey,

35
00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:33,800
Speaker 1: remember New Zealand and something will happen.

36
00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, we know that there's four million Australians who are

37
00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,520
Speaker 2: considering a visit to New Zealand. We just have to

38
00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,399
Speaker 2: convert them. So it's actually being far more in their

39
00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,160
Speaker 2: face and putting the material in front of them, putting

40
00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:53,080
Speaker 2: the deals, which this Australia campaign was really really positive

41
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:58,400
Speaker 2: because there were over eight hundred deals that New Zealand businesses, airlines, hotels,

42
00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,600
Speaker 2: activities put on the table and that was part of

43
00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:06,040
Speaker 2: the incentive to get the Australian tourists to say, yes,

44
00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:07,760
Speaker 2: I'm booking now, I'm coming over.

45
00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,160
Speaker 1: Can you offer me anything more positive on the biggest

46
00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,280
Speaker 1: side of the equation because we're still a note stuck

47
00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,560
Speaker 1: in the eighties in terms of percentage of where we

48
00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:16,040
Speaker 1: once were.

49
00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,080
Speaker 2: Well, that's why we've just we're very deliberately working on

50
00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,960
Speaker 2: our big markets Australia, the States, in China. There's a

51
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,120
Speaker 2: lot of potential in China because the numbers are still

52
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,079
Speaker 2: only at sixty one percent of what we had pre COVID,

53
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,680
Speaker 2: So we've got a range of campaigns underway. The Prime

54
00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,520
Speaker 2: Minister's visit to China was really important. We just need

55
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,360
Speaker 2: those countries to know that New Zealand's open for business

56
00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,880
Speaker 2: and we actually welcome them. We want them to come,

57
00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:44,760
Speaker 2: We're ready for them to come and they'll have a

58
00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:46,959
Speaker 2: great experience when they're here, and we just need to

59
00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:48,519
Speaker 2: keep repeating that message to them.

60
00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,800
Speaker 1: Good stuff, Louis, appreciate it. Louis Upston Tourism Minister for

61
00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,960
Speaker 1: more from the mic, asking breakfast listen live to news

62
00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,920
Speaker 1: talks that'd be from six am weekdays, or follow the

63
00:02:57,960 --> 00:02:59,399
Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio