The ICC World Cup 2015 has provided Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) with an opportunity to tap the cricket-frenzied Indian market. Speaking on the sidelines of the Mumbai edition of the recently organised Kiwi Link India 2014, David Craig, General Manager Asia, Tourism New Zealand agreed that the cricket world cup is a big opportunity for TNZ, and the team has to ensure they make the most of it.
“We have to work across a range of promotional activities, especially working with well known partners who know New Zealand and are trusted spokespeople here in the Indian market. We are currently trying to also make it easy for Indians to travel to New Zealand, or for them to travel from Australia to New Zealand should they plan to visit Australia first. World Cup marketing will be more PR-led than advertising-led. We think the cricket world cup is going to be more about stories and personal experiences; what Indians have an affinity to in New Zealand; with what they say about the destination and so on,” he said.
When asked if sports is an angle that is leveraged globally to draw inbound tourists, Craig commented that the destination grabs every opportunity it can to draw tourists in from this segment. “New Zealanders are nuts about sports and it’s a very emotional area. So if you are in a market where people love a particular sport, it’s a fantastic way of hooking them on to New Zealand. In the past we have also leveraged the rugby world cup. We need to be very specific market by market which sport we crank up, but sports are a great way for us to talk about New Zealand,” Craig added.
He further revealed that TNZ is in the process of signing on four major Indian tour operators under the ICC World Cup banner to design special packages for the event – TUI India, Fanatic Sports, Sports Konnect and Cutting Edge.
Speaking about their strategy for the remainder of the year, Craig stated that TNZ saw good momentum in business and visitor numbers were up 13 per cent in 2013, encouraging them to continue the strategy they followed last year, but invest more in the activities. A lot of involvement with the trade, especially in tier I cities, through platforms such as Kiwi Link India 2014, which was organised in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi, are part of their plans for the year.
The Kiwi Link India 2014 is the largest edition ever hosted. The platform will welcome a delegation of 33 New Zealand operators and an attendance of over 500 Indian delegates. The aim is to educate the Indian trade and tap the family travellers, young adventurers and honeymooners from here. TNZ is also aiming to tap the corporate market/business travellers as the destination has the wherewithal to host up to 2,000 delegates.
Furthermore, the third Hobbit movie is slated to release at the end of this year, marking the end of the Hobbit trilogy as well as the Lord of the Rings franchise, providing TNZ with a promotional hook they plan to leverage well.
Craig also added that TNZ is planning a few associations with Indian entertainers, details of which will be announced soon.
