Steven Dixon, regional manager – South and South East Asia, tourism, Tourism New Zealand, speaks about Tourism New Zealand’s commitment to the India market and the power of social media and tourism workshops to get the New Zealand story out to the world By Reema Lokesh
New Zealand is soon coming of age as a solo destination option for Indians? What is your vision to further enhance the New Zealand experience in the Indian market?
India is one of our primary emerging markets from South and South East Asia, and is showing immense growth potential. New Zealand is becoming a preferred destination for travellers of different segments from India. We are seeing the trend of solo travel catching up across markets. This segment is tech savvy, active on social networks and believes in exploring destinations. We see many solo travellers visiting New Zealand and following itineraries that cover regions with niche offerings, helping us create a balance in awareness about the country. Our aim is to highlight New Zealand as a beautiful place whose embracing people, fascinating stories and captivating experiences await travellers.
How would you compare India vis-a-vis the other regions in South Asia and South East Asia as a growth centre?
New Zealand remains a popular destination for Singaporeans, Malaysians and Thais seeking a fresh escape from their hot and humid, hectic urban lifestyle. The school holidays serve New Zealand’s shoulder seasons well, offering an opportunity to influence family travel at this time. All travel widely are motivated by the idea of unique experiences, a healthy escape and a chance to sample New Zealand food and beverage. Indonesia’s rising middle-class seeks out new family-friendly and safe destinations over the Lebaran holiday period (over New Zealand’s winter).
While in India, we continue to see a growing trend of self-drive visitors, independent professionals and honeymooners particularly in the May and October holiday period. This gives us an opportunity to amplify unique itineraries and offerings to travellers.
Is there a priority plan you have in place waiting to be implemented for the India market?
Our key markets from India are Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, where we conduct our core activities. We are even targeting Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Nagpur and Kochi, which are currently developing markets.
Do you feel, though long haul from India, New Zealand still has the potential to be a MICE market player?
New Zealand is a great place for MICE travel, and is able to cater to events up to 2,000 people. There are outstanding venues from hotels to purpose-built convention centres spread across both North Island and South Island – all staffed by people who showcase New Zealand’s warm hospitality. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and we are expecting steady growth in the incentive travel segment from this market in the upcoming years. We currently host many Indian incentive groups annually with group sizes usually ranging from 50-150 participants. However, it is not uncommon for larger groups of up to 400 people to travel to New Zealand from India.
In November 2014, under the Tourism Industry Partnership, Tourism New Zealand signed an agreement with Immigration New Zealand (INZ), and six key travel agents from India. The MoU aimed to attract business events visitors through faster processing times and reduced paperwork to the destination.
In addition to MICE, we are seeing a trend of self-drive tours increasing among Indian travellers. The destination is also gaining preference as an ideal location for outdoor film shoots due to its picturesque beauty.
Is there a certain increase in budget toward India to re-strengthen the Tourism New Zealand brand?
India is one of Tourism New Zealand’s priority markets in the emerging markets sector in our three year marketing plan. In order to reinforce our long-term commitment to the India market, in 2013, Tourism New Zealand had tripled its funding to NZD 3.5 million per annum. This is an increase of nearly 400 per cent compared to fund allocated earlier. Over the years, Tourism New Zealand has increased its investment in India four-fold and increased efforts delivering a fully integrated marketing campaign, new trade engagement with 103 certified 100 per cent Pure New Zealand Specialists in India, stepped up our efforts to engage with the media and focus on international business events.
Any special programmes and plans for the travel agents’ fraternity in India?
Tourism New Zealand has a number of initiatives to engage with the Indian travel trade including marketing campaign partnerships, trade training, familiarisation opportunities, events, such as attendance at SATTE and Tourism New Zealand’s own organised event, Kiwi Link India. We have also successfully hosted two corporate evenings in Bengaluru and Delhi in 2014.
What are your expectations from the Kiwi Link India programme? Any differentiators for this year’s event?
Tourism New Zealand’s annual travel trade event, Kiwi Link India, is scheduled to take place from July 13-16, 2015 in Mumbai and Delhi. The event serves as a platform for New Zealand operators to interact with Indian tourism product managers, planners and owners through full day workshops and frontline training. Kiwi Link India 2015 will be seeing participation from 36 operators from New Zealand as well as four airlines and 80 Indian delegates. Following a new format this year, Tourism New Zealand will also be hosting key buyers from around India in Mumbai for the first three days of the event. We have seen a great response from the India market in the past financial year. With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and our initiatives in India around the event, we have seen a huge increase in Indian travellers visiting New Zealand. We hope to continue this momentum through more activities in the market and will be making some exciting announcements soon.
What is your take on the power of social media and what has been New Zealand’s participation in the same?
Paid activities on Tourism New Zealand’s Facebook India Page kicked off in FY15 focused on 100 per cent Pure New Zealand campaigns as well as the cricket World Cup reached close to 18 million Indian consumers and led to 1.3 million video views, 387,000 website clicks and 3.3 million engagements.