New Zealand looks to attract more Chinese tourists

Tourism New Zealand has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WeChat owner, Tencent Holdings, to jointly support the growth of Chinese tourists to New Zealand.

The agreement, signed on Friday last week, will see Tencent provide Tourism New Zealand with insights into Chinese tourists’ consumption habits and preferences based on WeChat data.

Tourism New Zealand will use these insights to refine its marketing campaigns and help local businesses and service providers to improve the overall travel experience of Chinese tourists.

The tourism agency has also launched a new ‘Mini Program’ in WeChat that provides the latest travel information about the country, such as travel tips, visa policy, flight and hotel information, local transportation and weather updates.

Tencent will also offer recommendations for other local stakeholders to open or improve their WeChat official accounts to be able to more effectively build brand awareness.

“China is New Zealand’s second-largest international tourism market, and the number one market in terms of holiday spending,” Gregg Wafelbakker, Tourism New Zealand’s general manager of Asia, said.

The tourism agency has been seeking innovative partnerships to bring the New Zealand tourism experience to more Chinese tourists, he said, and is excited to work with Tencent to grow the market.

The MoU makes the collaboration between Tourism New Zealand and Tencent official, and will strengthen Tencent’s integrated marketing outreach in mainland China.

“We are excited about our collaboration with Tourism New Zealand, one of the world’s most well-respected tourism boards,” Poshu Yeung, vice president of Tencent’s international business group, said.

“Through this new collaboration along with other joint initiatives to come, New Zealand will certainly become a more popular destination of choice among Chinese travelers.”

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