The catchwords of a New Zealand tourism campaign which aims to attract Australian visitors have been received with ridicule by opposition politicians in the country.The government marketing drive centres around the slogan "Everyone must go!" accompanied by photos of New Zealand's stunning lakes and mountains.But opponents and some locals say the NZ$500,000 ($450,000) advertising blitz clashes with the country's stagnating economy and record migration levels last year, particularly of younger Kiwis.
New Zealand is trying to attract more Australian visitors with this new advertising campaign. (Supplied)New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Tourism Minister Louise Upston launched the campaign this week."Visitor numbers from Australia are currently at about 88 per cent of 2019 levels – this campaign will encourage more of our neighbours to book now and come on over," she said."What this Tourism New Zealand campaign says to our Aussie mates is that we're open for business, there are some great deals on, and we'd love to see you soon."The number of Australian arrivals in New Zealand increased by more than 90,000, up from 1.27 million to 1.36 million over the past year, but we know there's more room to grow."But it was received with criticism by the opposition Labour Party, with one MP saying the slogan sounded like "we're in a clearance bin at a sale".
Opposition politicians in New Zealand are worried the country's tourism infrastructure can't cope with more visitors. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Critics also highlighted other more substantial issues around the campaign.Labour's tourism spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel raised concerns the nation's tourist infrastructure wouldn't handle greater numbers of visitors."Without any commitment from the government to invest in improving infrastructure to support the influx and numbers that they want to attract… that's a risk," she told RNZ, New Zealand's public broadcaster.Tiny country with population of 390k ranked 'safest' in the world View GalleryTourism is a vital part of the New Zealand economy, but the number of overseas visitors to the country has failed to return to pre-pandemic levels.– With CNN