Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) and Tourism New Zealand have struck a three-year global leisure travel deal to put Aotearoa firmly on holidaymakers’ maps.
The agreement covers Australia, the UK, Canada and South Africa, marking the first time Tourism New Zealand has invested directly in Flight Centre’s worldwide brand assets to spark demand in key markets.
“New Zealand is a top five destination across three key markets for our flagship leisure brand Flight Centre,” FCTG Global Leisure CEO James Kavanagh said.
“We’re starting from a solid foundation and know there’s still a lot of opportunity to boost travel in off-peak seasons, eliminate seasonality divide and instead position New Zealand as a year-round destination.
“We’ll focus on driving visitation through some incredible product offerings across our brands to provide customers with choice and convenience when it comes to booking their New Zealand getaway.”
Tourism New Zealand CEO René de Monchy said access to Flight Centre’s global customer base would help sustain strong visitor growth.
“We’re excited to be working with Flight Centre to help channel this growth strategically and encourage travellers to experience the best of New Zealand all year round,” said de Monchy.
“Flight Centre’s customers tend to stay longer, spend more and book earlier, so the brand’s engaged customer base will be key to the success of this partnership.”
According to Tourism New Zealand, holiday arrivals are already up nearly 13 per cent year-on-year, but extra airline capacity is needed to keep pace with demand.
“International air capacity to New Zealand is crucial for achieving our ambitious growth aspirations,” Mr de Monchy said.
“It is sitting at around 89 per cent of 2019 levels – we’d obviously love to see that capacity increase and provide consumers with greater options and price competition as additional carriers come onto routes.”
In June, Tourism New Zealand launched its new global campaign, shining the spotlight on its iconic 100% Pure New Zealand brand. Read more about that initiative here.
For more infor on Tourism New Zealand, visit www.newzealand.com/au.
