Tourism New Zealand, the international marketing organisation for the 'Land Of The Long White Cloud' has designated the Middle East as an emerging tourism market and is looking to increase its share of the regional outbound travel market.
"We recognise that this market has extremely good potential for New Zealand in the medium to long term," said Sarah Meikle, manager Middle East, Tourism New Zealand. The South Pacific country is mounting its third official participation at the ATM and is looking to exploit the huge exposure the award-winning Lord Of The Rings movie has brought it. "A significant change this year will be that the Australian and New Zealand stand will be side-by-side within an international pavilion," said Meikle. "This is a great opportunity to educate people about dual-destination holiday options between the two countries. "The New Zealand stand will also be promoting the first of The Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy 'The Fellowship Of The Ring' which was filmed entirely on location in New Zealand. " Meikle says outbound traffic to New Zealand from the Middle East is rising with the UAE and Saudi Arabia being potential outbound markets for the country.