Tourism New Zealand receives USD6m in government funding to support coronavirus response

New Zealand's Government announced (18-Feb-2020) a NZD10 million (USD6.4 million) funding package for Tourism New Zealand to support the organisation's response plan to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in China. The response plan is focused on encouraging growth from other markets. Australia will be a strong focus in the immediate future and Tourism NZ will focus on Japan in the medium to long term, while taking advantage of new routes and capacity to the US and building positive market sentiment in the UK. Tourism New Zealand CEO Stephen England-Hall said the funding "will help to alleviate some of the pressures the tourism sector is facing". The government also approved a NZD1 million (USD640,000) funding package to encourage domestic tourism. Mr England-Hall added: "China remains an incredibly important visitor market and we look forward to renewing our activity in China... We will also be working on plans to reinvest in the market when the time is right". [more - original PR]