Tourism Australia & Air New Zealand Team Up For Destination Campaign

Tourism Australia and Air New Zealand have teamed up a second time for the ‘There’s nothing like Australia’ marketing campaign.

This campaign continues Air New Zealand and Tourism Australia’s million dollar partnership to encourage travellers to visit Australia now by offering a special fare to six of Australia’s top destinations for one common-rated price.

Last week, Air New Zealand announced it was adding capacity out of Vancouver and Los Angeles by 10 and 20 per cent respectively.

The gateways offered are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairnes, Adelaide and Coolangatta on the Gold Coast.  Last year’s partnership saw a 50 per cent increase in sales year over year.

Jane Whitehead, regional general manager, the Americas, Tourism Australia told PAXnewsWest the key message of the campaign is reflected in the wording.

“There’s nothing like Australia, with these six gateways it makes Australia more accessible, and Air New Zealand is a great way to get there,” Whitehead said.

“It’s been great news for us that we’ve been seeing strong growth out of the Canadian market, particularly over the last six months,  arrivals are up 10 per cent,” she said.

Whitehead added that leisure travel has been driving the growth, with international leisure travellers to Oz up 18 per cent.

The aim is to build on the acceleration of growth from the Canadian market, and Tourism Australia is ramping up marketing platforms for the country’s surf destinations, nightlife, wineries and culinary scene.

“I think the great thing about the partnership with Air New Zealand is that we have wanted to engage our trade partners, and with the campaign we’ll be investing significantly in promoting Australia as a destination, and 14 wholesale and retail partners are going to be a part of it,” Whitehead said.

Chris Allison, manager, sales & market development, Canada, Air New Zealand told PAXnewsWest the campaign is focussed on driving awareness about Australia, and for consumer conversion to Air New Zealand for air travel to the destination from the airline’s North American gateways- Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“New Zealand is our core focus, but Australia is an area of our business that has been growing over the past three years, very much stimulated by the partnership with Tourism Australia,” Allison said.

Allison said that out of Canadian market, Air New Zealand may not be top of mind for travel options to Australia, and the campaign aims to change that.

Allison pointed out that travellers can stop off in New Zealand at the Auckland transit point to experience both destinations on one trip- at no extra charge.

“Our transit facility and process at Auckland Airport is really quite efficient compared to what they might expect if they’re transiting through Sydney,” Allison said.

Tourism Australia and Air New Zealand are offering a promotional priced fare to any of the six Australian gateways from Vancouver for $1,578 on select travel dates.

Out of Vancouver, travellers can also experience Air New Zealand’s new Economy Skycouch and Premium Economy Spaceseats as they are rolled out on all long-haul flight over the next year.

For more information, go to airnewzealand.ca/discover-australia.

Photo: Jane Whitehead, regional general manager, the Americas, Tourism Australia and Chris Allison, manager, sales & market development, Canada, Air New Zealand