ETW Staff– Mumbai
Tourism New Zealand has announced a new partnership with Malaysia Airlines and Auckland International Airport promoting special airfares for Indian travellers for the travel period of December 2014 to June 2015. This new venture aims to increase traffic to New Zealand on the Auckland route from India. The promotion will target young adventurers, honeymooners and families segments looking to experience a unique holiday in New Zealand. The new campaign will offer special air fares to New Zealand from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi.
With promotional airfares available until December 2014, this new campaign gives tourists another chance to travel to New Zealand this summer ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which New Zealand is co-hosting with Australia. The tournament opens on February 14, 2015 in Christchurch and runs until March 29, 2015.
Speaking about the new campaign, David Craig, general manager Asia, Tourism New Zealand, said, “We are happy to announce our partnership with Malaysia Airlines and Auckland International Airport. Malaysia is an important gateway for the market and the campaign gives us an opportunity to leverage our strategic partnership to drive growth in the tourists’ arrival numbers from India.”
Commenting on the campaign, Azahar Hamid, regional senior vice president – South Asia and Middle East, Malaysia Airlines, said, “We are pleased to be working with Tourism New Zealand and Auckland International Airport to promote New Zealand as a destination to Indian travellers. We provide seamless connections from six Indian cities to Auckland via Kuala Lumpur. Through this campaign we continue to offer our best-in-class service to Indian cricket fans and globetrotters.”
Norris Carter, general manager aeronautical commercial, Auckland Airport, said, “This is an exciting opportunity to work with Tourism New Zealand and Malaysia Airlines in India. We’ve seen some great growth in Indian holiday arrivals recently, which shows the popularity of New Zealand as a holiday destination for Indian travellers. In the year ending September 2014, Indian holiday arrivals to New Zealand increased by 14 per cent when compared to the previous year. We’re confident this partnership will further stimulate visitation growth from India. Malaysia Airlines is a key carrier for the Indian market to New Zealand with attractive schedules via Kuala Lumpur.”
India is one of Tourism New Zealand’s key markets for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and the partnership with Malaysia Airlines makes New Zealand more accessible for travellers from various cities of India. Tourism New Zealand has also seen strong growth of 17.4 per cent for the year ended September 2014 from India, with 35,232 tourist arrivals from India of which 16,416 were holiday arrivals.