Exclusive | To spend NZD 3.5mn for advertising in India: TNZ's Mannix-Opie

Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) is showcasing New Zealand to India this week, with the aim to significantly grow visitor numbers in line with its emerging growth markets strategy. India has been identified by Tourism New Zealand as an emerging market providing enormous opportunity for New Zealand, with its strong economy leading to a growth in personal spending and outbound travel. TNZ is looking at building both awareness and travel connections to New Zealand, to accelerate the growth of quality visitor arrivals and achieving a double digit growth in the number of Indian travellers visiting the country during the current fiscal in an effort to hard-sell it as one of the preferred global destinations. The country, which received nearly 30,000 visitors in the financial year ended June 2013,  apart from Indian honeymooners and families, is also looking at business travellers to drive the growth as it focuses on the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) segment.

In the new three-year tourism development plan effective from July 2013, TNZ has ranked India as important emerging market based on a nine-month study of the market which concluded in May 2013. TNZ has tripled its budget for Indian market and will invest NZD 3.5 million each year, over next four years. The NTO is currently recruiting more staff in India and concentrating on increasing its brand awareness here.

Mischa Mannix-Opie, Regional Manager South & South East Asia, TNZ in an exclusive interaction with Adgully, shared insights and plans about the  board’s initiatives where the Indian market is concerned  and how they intend tapping the emerging Indian market.

Revealing plans for India Mannix-Opie said that with regard to new marketing program in India for Tourism New Zealand, in the first phase they plan to understand the market since today it is important to conduct a research to understand the emerging markets.

“So, for us presently the three emerging markets are Indonesia, Latin America and India. We are looking at India with a fresh perspective since over the years we have seen opportunity from this market. Tourism New Zealand has recently received additional funding from the government and a portion of the funds has been earmarked for investing in India, for growth in holiday arrivals from India. We have our office in Mumbai from where we are based to look after the whole country. We are also looking at doubling the staff,” informed Mannix-Opie.

For Tourism New Zealand, India is one of three key emerging markets from where it sees the potential of getting the most number of  visitors, the others being Indonesia and Latin America. When asked which would be their priority market among the three Mannix-Opie said, “All the three markets are priority for us, but we are targeting each market differently.   In Indonesia, we don’t have a base right now and in Latin America, we are in our infancy, building relationships. We have been in the Indian market since 2003 when we opened our office in Mumbai and we plan to grow further”

With a significant change seen in the Indian market, as far as strategies for India is concerned she said, “To make this happen we are looking at investing with a budget of NZD 3.5 million in the Indian market. For marketing and advertising, we will be doing brand campaign in India, not just partnership advertising but also more of PR activities. We’ll be looking at the India Cricket Tour which would be happening next year in 2014, then the ICC Cricket World Cup happening in 2015 and we are also looking at film opportunities with Bollywood. We are also looking out for strategic partnership in the Indian market.”

Their partners in the Indian market include Cox and Kings, Thomas Cook, Kulin Kumar, Make My Trip.com, Yatra.com among others. “We have 8-10 partners but we have a range of travel agents across India who we partner with in a range of ways. Partnerships with travel trade and airlines will be a part of our ongoing strategy in India,” Mannix -Opie said.

In today’s scenario, digital and mobile marketing has an important role to play. Sharing their focus on this front she said, “Digital is a big piece of our marketing program, we have  newzealand.com which has 12 – 12.85 million visitors who visit the site globally on a yearly basis. On the website, we have travel agents who list their details and travel packages, and we also have New Zealand tourism operators who list their products.  Consumers can then be connected with a travel agent or New Zealand tourism experience through our website.  Digital advertising campaigns drive visits to our website to then allow the consumer to learn more about New Zealand holidays and be connected with a channel to purchase. .”

In the social media space TNZ also has a global Facebook page and they are also on Twitter. It helps their regional marketing teams to deliver the social programs that they undertake.

Given the scenic background of New Zealand it has always attracted film producers as an ideal location for their shootings. “Yes, we are looking at making it a destination for films, television and drama shooting as well. As there are loads of destination seeking these opportunities so it’s important for us to find the right opportunity with New Zealand Tourism that positions us in the right way and reaches out to our target audience ,” she said when asked if they are considering making it a destination/location  for film shootings too. 

Mannix-Opie shared TNZ’s priorities for India. According to her the first one is destination brand awareness, second is building preference for New Zealand by showcasing what a New Zealand holiday experience can be  and the third one is strengthening their  partnership with travel agent communities.

.With regard to segments in India they are specifically focusing on the family market, the honeymoon market and the luxury market.   TNZ are also targeting the (MICE) segment reaching out to MICE sellers and also corporate end users. “We undertake brand campaigns and partnerships campaign focusing our target segments, working with travel agents and airlines,” she says.

The markets they are targeting presently in India are metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai.

Advertisers Funded Program (AFP) route is very important route for tourism client to promote their destination. Is TNZ also focusing on this program? To which she replied, “No, we are not looking at this opportunity currently but focusing more on television and film opportunities in India.”

The travel industry in New Zealand places India on the top of the list of the emerging markets. She also spoke about the brand new convention centre in Auckland and Cathedral Square in Christchurch which is now open to public for the first time since the earthquake in February 2011. According to Mannix-Opie for the Indian incentive market the destinations of interest would be Auckland, Rotorua, and Queenstown and from the tourism perspective all these places of interest would prove to be ideal locations for the Indian tourist.

High-end accommodation, restaurants and tourism attractions in scenic New Zealand is being experienced first-hand by Indian travel industry leaders to sell to their growing number of upper and middle-class customers back home.  Mannix-Opie says “We see the luxury/premium products of New Zealand, including New Zealand’s luxury lodges as providing a new experience to the Indian market and we’ll be looking to promote these stronger in the market also.”