‘Everyone must go!’ New Zealand’s new tourism declares, but so far almost everyone seems to be cringing. The prime minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, this week unveiled the latest tagline aimed first at holidaymakers from Australia but also those living further afield.
Critics say the wording of the latest marketing campaign sounds like something from a Boxing Day sale, or even a cry of desperation from the back of a typically long toilet queue on one of the country’s frequently crowded hiking trails.
Fewer outsiders are being enticed by New Zealand’s lanscapes than was the case before Covid
Luxon, who in a past corporate life was the chief executive of the national carrier, Air New Zealand, says he wants his country to be ‘the top of the bucket list’ for tourists. It’s time for the world ‘to get the bloody hell over here’, he told the broadcaster RNZ.
The wording of the call has been largely greeted with guffaws, however, with some from the opposition Labour party saying it sounds more like a directive to quit the country.
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