Annie Dundas: Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Destination Director on the 'Kiwi North' tourism alliance aiming to attract Australian visitors

Our largest-ever North Island tourism alliance is just getting started, as they work to win over Australian travellers this week. 

More than 70 tourism operators are attending events in Sydney today and Melbourne tomorrow under the partnership Kiwi North. 

It was formed in May, when 15 tourism North Island organisations joined forces to draw more attention from key markets. 

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Destination Director Annie Dundas told Mike Hosking that the aim is to show that the North Island has just as much to offer as the South Island does. 

She says the South Island enjoyed a great lift in tourist numbers from Australia, and they’re hoping to see a lift of 1-2% for the North Island from this work. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The rebuild of our tourism sector continues, with the latest
initiative being the North Island's biggest tourism operators. They're working
across the ditch this morning as we speak. The Kewi
North Partnership. It's launched earlier this year. We told you
about it at the time. It's running a week long
road show Sydney and Melbourne. Any dundas is with Auckland
Unlimited and is with us any morning? Good morning, Mike,
are you up early in Sydney or Melbourne?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
I'm deinkly in Auckland, but wish it was there.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
I bet you do. The delineation between the North and
the South as opposed to North being just one part
of the country. Can they get their head around that?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, this is all part of the exercise, right, This
is educating Australians that the North Island has absolutely so
much to offer as compared to the South.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
So it'd be sort of like Australia selling yar.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Queensland, it would exactly Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Okay, So the front of mind aspect, how does it
actually work? How do you end up there? You tell
who what and they tell your average Australian how to
what go to Rohta Rua.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, the average Australian holiday is either four to seven
days or eight to four day so that's like a
perfect time to come and explore the North Island. So
Aukland's the main gateway. What we're encouraging is that people arrive,
they're obviously heading up north, they're heading further south, whether
it's around Rua, down to the Waikato, out to New Plumbers,
Hawk's Bay, wherever it may be. So we've got fifteen

(01:16):
regions up in Sydney and Melbourne talking about the reasons
to come to those destinations as part of a North.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Island So they're more regions than companies right, So Auckland
unlimited destination, how Recki, Hawks Bay Etctera.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
We've got fifteen regions and total seventy operators. So from
Auckland we've got followers, we've got the big Foody, we've
got a Nanda Tours from Wahiki, so we've got a
broad range of operators from Auckland and every region come
along as well.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
And when you do this sort of thing, do you
get goodbye and from the industry of people keen to
fire this thing up.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Oh, we have a weightless. It's extraordinary and I mean
we charge people to come, as you know, we all
costs off set and a long weightless and this is
the first event, so we're really hoping that the kind
of the first.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Of many do you have KPIs I mean by you
spend this, you do that you would expect what an
increase of one percent, two percent? Ten thousand people? What
are you looking for?

Speaker 2 (02:09):
We're looking for a shift in market share. So the
South Island's obviously a great lift out of Australia. We
want to see a lift out, you know, one to
two percent out of the North Island out of this work.
So they'll be those operators will be charging. I think
we're talking to about three hundred travel sellers as well
as journalists, so it's trying to get in the minds
of media that the North Island is a great proposition

(02:30):
for you know, a New Zealand holiday.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
I hope it works a treat for you any any
dundas of Auckland Unlimited with us this morning. For more
from the mi Casking Breakfast, listen live to news talks
that'd be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast
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