The campaign challenges the influential youth market to give up their ‘stuff’ for the chance to win one of six New Zealand experiences of a lifetime by posing the question, “what would you trade for the story of a lifetime?”. It is based on the idea that amazing life experiences surpass material possessions for young people.
Entrants must post a short video or take a picture of the ‘stuff’ they are willing to trade to enter. The winning entries will be asked to give these items to charity.
The winners of the six experiences (each winner gets a holiday for two) will be announced throughout the year ahead before September 2012. The closing date for the first two prizes – Summer Rhymes and Beaches and Boats is tomorrow (7 Dec) with the prize winners taking their holidays in early 2012. A further two sets of competitions will follow.
Tourism New Zealand’s General Manager Marketing Communications, Justin Watson, says:
A strategic focus of all our marketing activity is the prioritization of key markets and sectors for growth. With the youth segment (aged 15 – 29) making up almost 25% of annual arrivals to New Zealand, they are of significant importance for our tourism industry.
We are targeting the key youth market because of the substantial growth opportunities they present. They have the potential to stay longer, spend more and are more likely to return to New Zealand later in life. What we offer as a Country is ideally suited to the youth traveller.
The campaign is being rolled out globally over the next year and will use youth-friendly digital and social media via newzealand.com, Facebook and YouTube.
An important aspect of both this initiative, and the overall youth strategy, is the establishment of relationships with key partners in each overseas market such as STA Travel in the UK. Tourism New Zealand have also partnered with Air New Zealand and a number of New Zealand operators to provide the experiences of a lifetime, and are working with in-market sellers to provide related products so people can also buy the experiences being showcased.
Image: Fras
An incredible initiative and a wonderful idea!
Clever promotion, and it ties in nicely with the findings of a recent survey in the U.S.: Americans (not just young people) were asked how they’d spend a 10% increase in income, and the largest group mentioned expenditures on “vacations and travel.”
This is not really a rejection of consumerism, but one form of consumption competing for consumer dollars with other forms of consumption. Don’t buy computer games and designer jeans; spend your money instead on tourism. The consumerist nature of the project is reinforced by the fact that these are trips for two; were these journeys of spiritual enlightenment, they would be solitary. The best travel stories come from travel alone. The more pleasant your companion, the more they get in the way of your experience.
Selling tourism is a perfectly legitimate enterprise and I wish them well at it, and maybe some good will come of it. I was just disappointed to realize that it was not the spiritual enterprise I at first thought it was.