Exploring the Wellington region is now even easier thanks to deals being offered by local tourism businesses and experiences in Wellington city, Porirua, Hutt Valley, Kapiti and the Wairarapa.
Explore Wellington is an online platform created that offers 22 tourism experiences and activity deals such as special offers on ferry tickets, Wellington Zoo and bike hire.
It is part of WellingtonNZ’s broader visitor attraction campaign targeting whanau across the Wellington region as well as visitors from the top of the South Island, and those in drive-time regions of Manawatu, Whanganui, Hawkes Bay and Taranaki.
All 22 deals sit behind individual doors of an advent calendar-style illustration created by local artist Dean Proudfoot. It depicts what makes the Wellington region such a special place to live and visit. Click on any deal before August 31 and it gets sent to your inbox or downloaded to your smartphone.
Since the soft launch of Explore Wellington on Monday, July 13, 2364 vouchers have been downloaded. The most popular offers so far are East by West Ferry, Wellington Zoo, Nga Manu Nature Reserve and Fryday Donuts.
WellingtonNZ general manager Anna Calver says Explore Wellington has a dual purpose: to support local tourism operators struggling with the closure of our international borders; and provide good value deals for locals and domestic visitors to enjoy.
"Before lockdown, international visitors were worth about $1 billion to the regional economy. That has been stopped in its tracks, which is hurting local tourism operators.
"Explore Wellington provides great deals to tempt more locals and domestic visitors to experience what the region has to offer. There’s something for everyone from nature excursions, cycling hires and even opportunities to enjoy a delicious free donut, coffee or bagel as part of some deals.
"The 22 tourism deals were put together with families in mind, perfect for the school holidays and beyond, but there’s also plenty there for couples and groups of friends to enjoy."
According to the latest MBIE data, electronic card spending by domestic visitors and locals in the Wellington region increased by 2.2 per cent in the four weeks ending July 12, 2020, compared to the same time last year. However, the increase wasn’t felt evenly across all sectors with tourism operators in particular missing out.
Explore Wellington, along with five other WellingtonNZ domestic tourism campaigns currently in the market, will have fed the spending increase to some extent but available data doesn’t reveal that sort of detail.
The online platform used for Explore Wellington utilised existing technology designed for WellingtonNZ’s annual Christmas Advent Calendar which will return in December.
