And you thought Central Park was in New York?

LAKE TAUPO – New Zealand’s newest tourism marketing campaign, under the banner Central Park New Zealand, has been granted government funding.

Central Park NZ will make its debut in the Australian consumer market in mid-February.

The brand is a collaborative effort that brings together Rotorua, Lake Taupo, Bay of Plenty, Ruapehu, Hawke’s Bay, Coromandel and Waitomo.

“We have positioned Central Park NZ as Connecting Land, Legends and Life”, says Scott Pearson, general manager of Destination Lake Taupo.

Prompted by Air New Zealand’s addition of flights direct from Sydney to Rotorua, the regions of the central North Island are keen to package the area to the Australian market.

The combined budgets from the seven regions, as well as Rotorua Regional Airport, industry and joint-venture contributions has been bolstered by a budget injection from Tourism New Zealand, effectively doubling the revenue to NZ$ 884,000.

The initial stage of the campaign will be to develop the brand and educate the trade on the secrets of the region.

More information at www.CentralParkNZ.com