The title was awarded at Traveller Made’s Essence of Luxury Forum in France recently.

Traveller Made is a network community for luxury travel designers and suppliers including hotels and experience providers. It is an exclusive invitation-only network with a two-year application process for membership.

“Traveller Made has considerable status among the luxury travel industry and to be recognised by its members is a tremendous boost for New Zealand’s premium sector. Tourism New Zealand was the first national tourism organisation to join Traveller Made and the relationship has helped increase the awareness of New Zealand as a must-do luxury destination for its clients,” says Pip Casey, Tourism New Zealand’s Regional Manager Europe.

Tourism New Zealand’s Premium Manager in Europe attended the forum and conducted almost 100 one-on-one meetings with travel designers who specialise in bespoke luxury holidays for ultra-high and high net worth individuals. Prior to the forum Tourism New Zealand held product training in the UK with the Luxury Lodges of New Zealand, training 40 of the UK’s leading luxury travel sellers.

“When we first joined Traveller Made in 2014 there were only 70 member agencies and one New Zealand partner. Now there are almost more than 300 member agencies from around Europe, North, Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania (including 14 partners from New Zealand),” says Ms Casey.

“Being awarded ‘Most Preferred Destination’ highlights the level of respect that the sector has for New Zealand’s premium tourism offerings, and our world-renowned luxury lodges and facilities. For high net worth travellers looking for unique, bespoke experiences, New Zealand becomes the ultimate destination.”

High net worth individuals from the UK and Germany account for New Zealand’s 3^rd and 4^th largest markets for premium tourism. Tourism New Zealand continues to build extensive relationships with European agencies, particularly targeting high net worth individuals in UK, Germany and France.

A series of episodes of the hit show “The Fishermen and The City” featuring New Zealand outperformed all other programmes in its time slot.

The hosts, Auckland-raised hip hop artist Microdot (David Shen), actor Lee Deok-hwa, and comedian Lee Kyung-kyu, along with guest celebrity actor Ju Jin Mo, spent a fortnight in February filming their fishing adventures on the Auckland, Waiheke Island, Whakatane, and an expedition to White Island.

The episodes’ production was supported by Tourism New Zealand and Auckland International Airport.

“South Korea has one of the most-travelled populations in the world, and outbound numbers are increasing so there are considerable opportunities for New Zealand. ‘The Fishermen and The City’ is a very popular television show that provided a new way for Tourism New Zealand to showcase our regions and the different activities on offer,” says Gregg Wafelbakker, Tourism New Zealand’s General Manager – Asia.

“Having a kiwi connection with Microdot was fantastic as he gave the Korean audience a local perspective on our culture and paved the way for a lot of discussion with the presenters. Microdot often references New Zealand and Auckland in his music and is a keen fisherman, with a substantial following online.”

The team’s adventures were aired over five 90-minute episodes in March and April. With more than 11 million viewers, the episodes collectively generated $12 million in equivalent advertising value (more than $5 million up on expectations).

Tourism New Zealand and Auckland International Airport have worked extensively together supporting travel agents to promote shoulder season travel in New Zealand. The organisations have also partnered with Korean Air.

For the year ending February 2018, 67,152 Koreans travelled to New Zealand on holiday (up 13.4% on the year prior), staying for an average 10.2 days.