Number of Indians visiting New Zealand has doubled in 5 years: Kevin Bowler

Interview with Chief executive of Tourism New Zealand

Capitalising on the marketing success of the recent Cricket World Cup, which saw a surge in the number of visitors to New Zealand, the country's tourism board has hiked its promotion budget for the Indian market. Kevin Bowler, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, tells Aneesh Phadnis he expects 50,000 Indian visitors this year.

What is the outlook from the Indian market this year?

We are witnessing strong growth from India. Last year we received 43,000 Indian visitors, which is a growth of 27 per cent.

The number of Indians visiting New Zealand has doubled in five years and we have seen self-drive holidays becoming popular.

We are diversifying our source markets and see long-term potential from India, Indonesia and Brazil. During the cricket world cup in February-March, the number of Indians visiting New Zealand was up 70 per cent over the same period last year.

Last November, New Zealand simplified procedures making it quicker for visitors attending meetings and conferences. Has it led to an increase in visitors?

These are still early days but we are definitely seeing a rise in visitors coming for meeting and incentive tours. All I can say there is a positive feedback to our initiative.

Travel agents say New Zealand needs to simplify visa procedures further and drop rules like compulsory notarisation of applicant documents.

We are constantly looking at making it easy for genuine visitors to come to New Zealand. We work closely with the immigration department but cannot comment on specific rules. I am sure the government will consider these requests.

Tourism Australia is far more aggressive with its marketing campaigns with television commercials and outdoor advertising. What is your strategy?

I think Tourism Australia has lot more resources if you include their state tourism boards too. We are a complementary and not just a competing destination with Australia.

We are launching a new global marketing campaign with a theme “Every day a different journey”, which conveys the diversity of experiences, which visitors can enjoy in our country. We have also increased our marketing budget in India from $1 million NZ dollars to $5 million NZ dollars (around Rs 20 crore).