Images bring New Zealand stories to life

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. And in the last year, inspirational images of New Zealand have been bringing words to life with a record 49,619 downloaded from Tourism New Zealand's image library.

The increase in usage, up 14,000 year-on-year, has been put down to the site being easier to use complete with fresh new images.

In 2011, the brand team undertook a thorough review of the image library and found most images were dated empty landscapes. This prompted the initiative to commission images that were in line with the 100% Pure New Zealand brand and would shift the perception of New Zealand as a remote destination to one that is fun, accessible and popular.

The review also found the site was hard to navigate with an increasing number of media and trade choosing to contact Tourism New Zealand directly for images.  A dedicated project team worked on updating the site to ensure the library was user friendly - with improved display, search functions and download processes.

With the images used to accompany trade collateral and media articles offshore it is important that the images reflected Tourism New Zealand core brand messages. The updated image library provides fresh, on brand, good quality images that are relevant to our key markets; alongside enhanced usability features - providing a valuable resource to support the promotion of destination New Zealand.

New Zealand operators are the largest group to access the images in 2011/2012, the USA comes a close second for use in editorial coverage and Australian travel sellers in third place.

You can access the image library here images.newzealand.com.