http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/press-releases/
Backpackers urged to 'Go All The Way' 17 Sep 2009 Tourism New Zealand is targeting the youth and backpacker market with a new campaign urging them to 'Go All The Way' to New Zealand. The campaign was launched today (17 September) at New Zealand's first-ever Backpacker Industry Conference held at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Tourism NZ Chief Executive George Hickton said younger travellers and backpackers had continued to travel during the economic downturn, showing their resilience as a sector. New Zealand on the list The campaign was to ensure that New Zealand was on the list of places the young people wanted to visit, said Hickton. "Many backpackers from the UK and Europe go as far as Australia in their gap-year, but we want to challenge them to complete the journey and `Go All The Way' by coming down to New Zealand," he said. According to the International Visitor Survey, New Zealand welcomed 183,100 backpackers - those defined as spending over 30 per cent of their stay in backpacker accommodation - in the year to June 2009, up 4 per cent. This compares with an overall decline in arrivals of 2.8 per cent to 2.4 million in the year to July. Campaign research Tourism New Zealand worked with Backpacker Industry Organisation NZBackpack.com and Youth Hostels Association to research the youth and backpacker market and to devise the new campaign. "We found that despite the economic downturn, youth travellers are not put off by ticket prices and they are very driven to get to the destinations they want to see. New Zealand is seen as worth the effort, but in this competitive market we need to push them to make that commitment to get here," Hickton said. Northern Hemisphere markets The focus for the new campaign will be the Northern Hemisphere markets, including the UK and Europe, ahead of the busy summer peak travel months. Although some people saw backpackers as low spenders, they stayed longer than the average, which meant their overall spend by the end of their trip was higher, Hickton said. "They also tend to travel widely around New Zealand taking their spending into regions which then benefit from the visits." Bebo The Gap Year The `Go All The Way' campaign will run predominantly online, kicked off by a partnership with social networking website Bebo. Bebo is creating an online reality TV show - The Gap Year:Challenge New Zealand - that will follow five competitors as they travel around New Zealand taking part in challenges. The Bebo community will be encouraged to vote for activities and winners as the competition progresses. Competitors will also keep blogs and online diaries. Launch supporters European backpackers were amongst a group of young people who attended the `Go All The Way' launch in Auckland. Lloyd Wasa, Haavard Egseth and Cecilie Boelin all from Norway said they would be spending a year travelling around New Zealand taking time out from jobs and had chosen to 'go all the way' because of recommendations from others. "I didn't know a lot about NZ but read up my book on the plane and even though I have only been here a week, I'd definitely recommend people to come because everyone is so nice, helpful and warm," said Cecilie. Extreme sports were one of the main attractions and after experiencing the AJ Hacket horizontal bungy at the campaign launch, the Norwegians said they'd definitely be trying the real thing. Backpackers were tested for fastest times on the horizontal bungy and four won tickets to all seven AJ Hacket NZ experiences around New Zealand promising to blog their feedback as part of the deal. Craig Tollerton, 22 from Essex in England had only been in New Zealand for eight hours before hearing about the 'Go All The Way' campaign launch and decided to attend. "I'm in NZ because of a friend's recommendation and the last thing he said to me before I left home was `don't say no to anything'. So here I am."
