New immigration campaign shows tourists a new direction

Wednesday 8 June 2005

Lions fans are among the tourists being targeted by a new immigration marketing campaign asking them to consider returning to New Zealand full-time after their holiday ends.

The Department of Labour campaign uses the international language of road signs, directional messages and dramatic New Zealand scenery to attract the attention of potential skilled migrants. It directs visitors to a new marketing website to help them explore their options for returning to New Zealand after they leave.

The campaign has been launched to coincide with the influx of British tourists and media into New Zealand to follow the British and Irish Lions rugby tour. It focuses on key points along the tourist route, starting at airports and including hotels and bed and breakfasts, car and ferry services, tourist information centres and tourist media, building awareness from arrival to departure of the opportunities for the right people to live and work in New Zealand.

Department of Labour Communications and Marketing Director Richard Ninness says tourism brings a huge pool of skilled people into New Zealand every year.

"There's a large segment of the tourist market that overlaps with the skilled worker profile. These are people who have skills and experience and are already attracted to New Zealand.

"What we're doing is hitting these people with targeted messages while we've got their attention. New Zealand sells itself so we're leveraging off that to let them know there are opportunities here. It's a really targeted and cost-effective way of reaching these people."

The campaign is a natural progression from Department of Labour marketing initiatives currently underway offshore, particularly in the key target market of the United Kingdom. Around 50 percent of people who have gained residence under the Skilled Migrant Category are from the UK.

It is also shaped by the fact that over 80 percent of approved residence applicants in the 2003/04 year had been to New Zealand temporarily prior to application, and that those that had visited here before were likely to settle more easily.

The campaign directs people to the website www.nzopportunities.govt.nz The website offers information on finding a job in New Zealand, qualifying for residency, opportunities in New Zealand and living in New Zealand.