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International media spotlight shines bright on NZ

Wednesday 21 September 2011, 5:58PM

By Tourism New Zealand

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The July issue of China's World Traveller Magazine included an impressive 93-page feature on New Zealand.
The July issue of China's World Traveller Magazine included an impressive 93-page feature on New Zealand. Credit: Tourism New Zealand

There has been an influx of international media to New Zealand's shores over the past month, and not all of the focus is on RWC 2011.

Thai broadcast travel show 2gether TV has just left the country after spending 10 days filming a self-drive and campervan experience in the North and South Islands. The travel programme will include a step-by-step guide on how to travel in New Zealand - including how-to tips, not-to-miss attractions, where to eat and local entertainment in Auckland, Rotorua, Queenstown, Wanaka, Akaroa and Christchurch. The travel pieces will air on True Vision, Thailand's leading paid cable TV, across a 10-week period, and on Thai Airways International's in-flight video on demand.

Out of Japan there is a multi-magazine press tour taking place this week. Tourism New Zealand will host 24 media from a selection of leading publications, all identified as reaching Tourism New Zealand's Active Considerer target segment. This project will leverage post RWC 2011 coverage and buzz with the aim to convert Japanese interest into travel over summer.

A team from Australia's Ninemsn also arrived this week, in the second of three visits to New Zealand. They'll be here for six weeks to cover the REAL festival and tourism activities surrounding and outside RWC 2011 in Auckland, Wellington and Nelson. Ninemsn is a general sports website that also supports Channel 9's flagship sports brand - Wide World of Sports (with 1.5-2 million unique users per month). At least 25-30 articles and videos are expected to run over the coming weeks. The 71 minutes of television coverage from this episode of Australia's most successful television show in history represented an equivalent advertising value of $5.6 million.

Earlier this year Tourism New Zealand hosted the editor and a photographer from China's World Traveller magazine. The duo visited Queenstown, Wanaka, Fiordland and Otago, resulting in an impressive 93-page feature in the July issue. World Traveller, which has a monthly circulation of 482,300, showcased a range of experiences that the Chinese Active Considerer can enjoy within New Zealand's beautiful natural landscape. View here.

Alongside the July print coverage, World Traveller TV aired 8 x 25 minute episodes dedicated to promoting New Zealand as a leading holiday destination. World Traveller TV is broadcast across 29 stations throughout China.

Tourism New Zealand also hosted international sport and lifestyle media earlier this year as part of the lead up to RWC 2011, and coverage has been flooding in as a result.

In Australia, weekly travel newspaper lift-out Escape, with 6 million readers nationwide, ran an issue featuring New Zealand on its cover and inside had four pages highlighting the reasons to visit during and after the cup. The Sun-Herald's Travel Section, with 450,000 readers in New South Wales, recently ran two entertaining articles by blogger Ben Groundwater - view here:

 

In Japan, Rugby Magazine ran a seven-page feature, highlighting all there is to see and do during RWC 2011, in the first of three editions to be released. The magazine has a circulation of 150,000, and the first edition focused on Auckland, Waikato and Taupo.

French newspaper Le Monde ran a RWC 2011 feature drawing attention to attractions and activities of interest to French travellers.