Tuesday 23 February 2016

NEW ZEALAND: Chinese Travellers Set To Fall In Love With New Zealand

Chinese mega-star Huang Lei is front and centre in Tourism New Zealand’s latest campaign ‘Every day a different journey’ which has launched in China.

Actor, director, singer, screenwriter and university teacher Huang Lei returned to New Zealand for the third time in June this year along with wife Sun Li and their two daughters for a family holiday to celebrate the couple's 20 year anniversary.

The family worked alongside Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand to develop a collection of images of the couple’s experience in New Zealand which have been integrated into Tourism New Zealand’s latest campaign in China focusing on romance and family travel in New Zealand.

Tourism New Zealand General Manager Asia David Craig says, “Having the opportunity to work with someone as high profile as Huang Lei not once, but twice, is a real win for Tourism New Zealand.

“Huang Lei has a massive following in China with over 20 million fans on his Weibo social media account. His recent visit to New Zealand generated more than 1,280 media articles and saw 710,000 followers engage with his New Zealand content. We are confident that aligning ourselves with such a well-known influencer will continue to see New Zealand grow in popularity as a visitor destination in China.”

Huang Lei and his family spent eight days touring the top of the South Island, supported by Destination Marlborough, Destination Kaikoura and Christchurch Canterbury Tourism.

The campaign features a series of images and videos showing the couple enjoying seafood and wine, holding a kiwi, cruising and walking, showcasing New Zealand as a holiday destination for families and special occasions.

“In addition three media from China were hosted on a visit to New Zealand to follow Huang Lei as a part of Tourism New Zealand’s International Media Programme. These included the Cosmopolitan Honeymoon Special which featured Huang Lei and Sun Li’s anniversary trip in the July issue to an audience of over 965,000,” says David.

Voyage magazine has also published a six page cover story featuring Huang Lei and Sun Li’s third visit to New Zealand in the August issue as well as another eight page feature story titled “the unknown New Zealand” introducing New Zealand lodges, winery experiences and wildlife. Voyage has a circulation of 315,000 and the two articles have a combined equivalent advertising value of $637,000.

This will be followed by an 11-episode video series on iqiyi.com featuring seven episodes on Huang Lei’s trip and four specifically focusing on travel in New Zealand. Iqiyi is one of China’s top three video sharing sites, attracting an average of 47million daily views. Huang Lei’s New Zealand story will be promoted on the home page and several of the channel’s secondary home pages including travel and entertainment, in September.

Tourism New Zealand’s previous work with Huang Lei on season two of reality show 'Dad, where are we going?' was an outstanding success with the series airing to millions of Chinese.

During his visit to New Zealand Huang Lei also fronted a video promoting safe driving. The video will be released in September. It will be made available to Air New Zealand for use as part of their in-flight information.

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