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New Zealand PM pledges cash support for tourism
NZ Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism John Key has announced an additional $2.5 million dollars for the Australian market to keeping pushing New Zealand's tourism messages.

Official arrivals numbers for New Zealand show a decline in visitor numbers in February 2009 compared with the same month last year - emphasising the importance of investing more in the Australian tourism market. Statistics New Zealand figures showed total arrivals for February were down 8.5 percent with all New Zealand's key markets on the decline except Australia.

With some long-haul markets beginning to decline, Tourism New Zealand decided to move money into marketing Australia over the southern hemisphere summer to bolster visitor numbers. Australia is New Zealand's biggest market - generating nearly 40% of New Zealand's arrivals and the Prime Minister said even small gains in demand will make a big difference.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton says this meant that Tourism New Zealand would be able to continue marketing in Australia for longer than ever before. "For the first time, Tourism New Zealand will be able to do work in Australia all through winter into the next summer. We brought forward our marketing spend to inject more into last summer's campaign. This funding means we can keep up the momentum to stimulate travel." Vicky Karantzavelou - Wednesday, April 15, 2009