SAYONI BHADURI – Mumbai
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| Mischa Mannix-Opie |
Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) plans to conduct Kiwi Link India in August-September 2013. Providing more details Mischa Mannix-Opie, regional manager South and South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand said, “We are looking at adding another city to the list apart from Delhi and Mumbai.” The decision as to which city hasn’t been made yet.
Talking about promotion plans for the coming year Mannix-Opie said, “We are proposing 2013 to be pitched at family vacations, with a strong focus on the months of April and May. We have developed a positive relationship with our airline partners and travel trade partners. We are currently in talks to develop programmes for 2013.” The release of the film The Hobbit is going to provide TNZ the platform to promote New Zealand as a family destination. “We are looking at creating awareness in the India market about the film’s tourism opportunity by social media,” she added.
“We have seen a steady growth in arrivals from India and we expect this continues with the honeymoon season now picking up,” said Mannix-Opie. New Zealand saw 29,728 Indians visitors in the year ending October 2012, it is a 5.6 per cent increase from the same period last year. She further discussed that the incentives market has also become a focus for TNZ and that they are working with selective companies who do incentives to promote New Zealand as a long haul incentives option.
For the future, 2015 is a big year with New Zealand and Australia hosting the Cricket World Cup which will definitely create a lot of interest from India. “We are also going to unveil our marketing plan for the next three years in July 2013,” added Mannix-Opie.
