Tourism New Zealand and China Southern Airlines have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding in Guangzhou.
The MoU details the two organisation’s commitment to jointly promote New Zealand tourism in China, valid to June 30, 2016.
The pair will jointly explore opportunities to promote tourism to New Zealand, including brand advertising and promotional campaigns, public relations and major trade shows.
The two organisations are making equal financial commitments to the multi-million dollar agreement. No figures have been revealed.
China Southern Airlines, which flies a daily direct service from Guangzhou to Auckland, will be the first airline to fly the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on a New Zealand route.
New figures from Euromonitor International show that 215,400 Chinese visited New Zealand in 2012, 48% growth on the previous year. Australia attracted 626,000 visitors from China in 2012.
Close-to-home Hong Kong remains the top destination for Chinese travellers with 15.1 million visiting the SAR last year.
