Vinita Bhatia
6 hours ago

New Zealand trades filters for footfalls in India push

With NZ$13.5 million in its kitty, Tourism New Zealand’s new campaign courts India’s 15 million travel-intent audience with precision marketing.

Actors and real-life couple Rajkummar Rao and Patralekhaa with Tourism New Zealand’s regional director for Asia, Gregg Wafelbakker.
Actors and real-life couple Rajkummar Rao and Patralekhaa with Tourism New Zealand’s regional director for Asia, Gregg Wafelbakker.

Actors and real-life couple Rajkummar Rao and Patralekhaa’s recent New Zealand sojourn wasn’t just another Instagram-perfect holiday — it was an immersive, culture-soaked adventure that Tourism New Zealand has now captured in its latest #BeyondTheFilter campaign. Visiting Aotearoa during its autumn season, the celebrity couple, who are also expecting their first child, swapped filters for forests, curated grids for cultural connections.

From walking through art-laden vineyards and recreating Michelangelo on a quirky social distancing bench, to sharing a traditional hāngī meal after a stirring haka pōpwhiri, their trip spanned windchimes, wildlife, and Māori wisdom. As Rao put it, it was “love, laughter, and a touch of adrenaline” — New Zealand style.

#BeyondTheFilter wasn't conceptualised as not just an ad film; it’s Tourism New Zealand’s strategic nudge to Indian travellers to trade manicured itineraries for meaningful journeys. Seeing a strong shift among this cohort toward experiences that are personal, present, and emotionally meaningful, Tourism New Zealand’s regional director for Asia, Gregg Wafelbakker believes the country is uniquely positioned to meet their growing demand.

India’s outbound tourism is projected to grow at 11.4% CAGR from 2024 to 2034, reaching $55,388.41 million by 2034, per a FICCI-Nangia knowledge paper. While Dubai, Singapore, and Thailand lead, interest is rising in Central Asia, Arctic and Antarctica cruises, wellness tourism, and nature-based experiences, driven by affluent middle-class travellers. And Tourism New Zealand wants to capture a slice of this base. 

The #BeyondTheFilter campaign, launched on digital platforms like YouTube, Instagram and newzealand.com, is timed alongside a significant development: the New Zealand government’s allocation of NZ$13.5 million for international visitor marketing. This investment aims to stimulate tourism growth globally, and is strategically earmarked for markets that balance scale and growth potential.

Australia, the USA, and China account for 65% of all arrivals into New Zealand, logically commanding the lion’s share of this budget. However, Wafelbakker asserts, "India is probably the best example of a market with a smaller base but higher growth opportunity."

India, in fact, has been a post-pandemic outperformer for New Zealand tourism. Visitor arrivals from India have surged 22% above pre-pandemic 2019 levels, outpacing other global markets in recovery velocity. Pre-pandemic, New Zealand hosted about 81,000 Indian visitors annually. With a current preference pool of 15 million Indians actively considering a trip to New Zealand—of which 9 million rank it as their top choice—the potential is evident.

Yet, Wafelbakker is clear-eyed. "We know what's stopping them from booking—barriers around planning, cost, and logistics. Digital targeting allows us to address these directly, making digital a far more effective medium than traditional OOH or print," he told Campaign.

Tourism New Zealand’s digital-first India strategy is laser-focused on what Wafelbakker describes as the lower end of the booking funnel: converting high-intent audiences, or 'active considerers', into actual visitors. Instead of broad awareness campaigns, the focus is on precision targeting. "We conducted a survey and found that 15 million Indians are actively considering a holiday to New Zealand. That’s a substantial base. If it wasn't, we would broaden our activity," he says.

To move beyond metro India, Tourism New Zealand is relying on data-driven marketing to identify pockets of high-potential travellers across tier 2 and tier 3 cities—consumers with the spending power and intent, but perhaps lacking exposure to the destination's depth beyond its Instagrammable landscapes. Social listening plays a critical role in unearthing these emerging trends, especially the growing appetite for mindfulness, sustainability, and genuine cultural experiences.

As Patralekhaa summed up, "In a world where we’re constantly curating our lives for social media, New Zealand gave us permission to just be present. The experiences were so beautiful and genuine, we found ourselves putting our phones down and simply living in the moment."

Tourism revenue for New Zealand climbed back to NZ$37.7 billion in 2023, inching closer to the NZ$40.9 billion achieved in 2019, according to a report by The Guardian. Visitor arrivals from Australia, its largest market, have reportedly recovered to about 88% of pre-pandemic levels.

Closing this final gap involves multiple levers: attracting higher-value travellers, promoting longer stays, and focusing on Asia’s burgeoning middle classes, particularly from India and China. For India, the emphasis is on cohort diversity—families, solo travellers, honeymooners, and adventure seekers alike—rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

The ‘Find Your 100% Pure New Zealand’ campaign, refreshed from its original 1999 avatar, underlines this versatility by inviting visitors to define their own version of 100%, whether in adventure, mindfulness, romance, or nature.

While the 'Everyone Must Go!' campaign in Australia generated early traction—14% of international holiday visitors reported being influenced by Tourism New Zealand’s marketing as per some experts—such creative executions must be localised for cultural nuance. The slogan, while successful, faced flak for sounding like a retail clearance sale. "Everyone has an opinion on campaigns. At the end of the day, its success comes down to what it's trying to achieve," Wafelbakker noted candidly.

When asked about mid-campaign pivots based on social listening, he admitted that while they haven't fundamentally altered any campaign, PR activities often respond more fluidly to emerging trends. “It's really important to understand trends in different markets. What we saw today was leading into a trend in travel from India, which is about disconnecting and enjoying new experiences, and these insights largely came through social listening across digital channels,” he explained.

The question of attracting film production houses, particularly from Bollywood, surfaced naturally given New Zealand’s iconic landscapes immortalised by Hollywood franchises like The Lord of the Rings. However, Wafelbakker clarified, "Attracting production houses to film in New Zealand falls outside of Tourism New Zealand’s responsibility, but we certainly see the benefit when it happens."

As the brand celebrates 25 years of the '100% Pure New Zealand' platform, its evolution reflects a balancing act between consistency and relevance. Wafelbakker pointed to past adaptations like '100% Middle Earth' and now, 'Find Your 100% Pure New Zealand', showcasing the campaign's elasticity in aligning with traveller preferences.

With India firmly on its growth radar, and a refreshed storytelling approach that prioritises authenticity over aesthetics, Tourism New Zealand is charting a course designed not just to rebuild but to reimagine its visitor economy. As Rao succinctly put it, "Travel for us has always been about connection—with each other, with nature, and with people we meet along the way. New Zealand gave us that and so much more, making our time together truly unforgettable."

With NZ$13.5 million fuelling a targeted international marketing push, the challenge now lies in fine-tuning strategies for conversion, especially in promising markets like India where the intent is high but the journey to booking remains under-leveraged. If Tourism New Zealand can bridge that gap, Rao and Patralekhaa's unfiltered adventure may well become the blueprint for India's next wave of outbound tourism.

Source:
Campaign India

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