Tourism New Zealand today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tencent Holdings Limited (“Tencent”, 00700.HK), a leading provider of Internet value-added services in China, in Shenzhen, China, to jointly support the growth of Chinese Free Independent Travellers (FIT) with fresh, unique travel experiences, and build New Zealand as a desirable, high-value international destination brand for Chinese travelers.
The MoU makes the collaboration between Tourism New Zealand and Tencent official, and will strengthen Tencent’s integrated marketing outreach in mainland China, enhancing the overall travel experience of Chinese visitors. It also deepens Tourism New Zealand’s understanding of Chinese tourists through Tencent Social Solution, which includes WeChat advertisements and WeChat Mini Programs.
Gregg Wafelbakker, General Manager Asia of Tourism New Zealand, said, “China is New Zealand’s second-largest international tourism market, and the number one market in terms of holiday spending. bring the exceptional New Zealand experience to more Chinese tourists, Tourism New Zealand has been seeking diversified, digitalized and innovative partnerships. As a leader in China’s Internet industry, Tencent has a robust technology platform and strong digital marketing service capabilities. We are excited to leverage Tencent’s expertise to jointly facilitate the development of the Chinese Free Independent Travel market and provide high-quality travel experience to Chinese tourists.”
Poshu Yeung, Vice President, International Business Group, Tencent, said, “We are excited about our collaboration with Tourism New Zealand, one of the world’s most well-respected tourism boards. Fully utilizing Tencent Social Solution and our innovative technologies as well as our valuable insights into mainland Chinese consumers, we aim to help Tourism New Zealand in better connecting with its Chinese tourists, and further enrich the travel experiences of Chinese FIT visitors across New Zealand. Through this new collaboration along with other joint initiatives to come, New Zealand will certainly become a more popular destination of choice among Chinese travelers.”
The collaboration also aims to further develop New Zealand’s tourism industry through extending the country’s marketing outreach efforts to the inbound Chinese market, with local merchants aimed to have a deepened understanding of Chinese travelers’ consumption behavior via WeChat user insights. Using the company’s expertise in Chinese consumer engagement, Tencent will provide user insights for Tourism New Zealand to widen their grasp of Chinese visitors’ consumption habits and preferences, which will serve as basis for them to develop more impactful marketing strategies.
WeChat and Weixin offer an excellent integrated platform to raise brand awareness among travelers in China, as proven by its more than 1,082 million monthly active users. Through Tourism New Zealand’s influence and network in New Zealand, Tencent hopes to promote its offerings, such as WeChat and Tencent Social Solution, among Chinese tourists visiting the country. Tencent will also offer recommendations for other local stakeholders to open or improve their WeChat official accounts to be able to more effectively build brand awareness.
Chinese tourists can access the newly launched Mini Program by Tourism New Zealand to get the latest travel information about the country, such as travel tips, visa policy, flight and hotel information, local transportation and weather updates, etc. The Mini Program is a perfect tool for Chinese FIT travelers.
To access Tourism New Zealand’s Mini Program, please scan the QR code with WeChat.
About Tourism New Zealand
Tourism New Zealand is the crown entity responsible for attracting high-value visitors to New Zealand and providing advice to the government and the tourism industry. We do this by targeting visitors from 15 key markets who we know will stay longer, visit outside of peak season, spend more and visit more regions – spreading the benefits of international tourism across the country and throughout the year.
About Tencent
Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Every day, hundreds of millions of people communicate, share experiences, consume information and seek entertainment through our integrated platforms. Tencent’s diversified services include QQ, Weixin/ WeChat for communications; Qzone for social networking; QQ Game Platform for online games; QQ.com and Tencent News for information and Tencent Video for video content. Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 and went public on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. The Company is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index. Tencent seeks to evolve with the Internet by investing in innovation, providing a mutually beneficial environment for partners, and staying close to users.