Tourism New Zealand’s $9.4M Influencer Spend Attracts Scrutiny Over Transparency

Tourism New Zealand spent better than $9.4 million on influencer promoting campaigns between January 2024 and September 2025, consistent with paperwork launched under the Official Data Act. The corporate engaged 65 influencers all through worldwide markets, nonetheless declined to provide explicit individual value breakdowns, citing industrial sensitivity.

The disclosure, obtained by the Taxpayers’ Union of New Zealand, reveals spending of $1.2 million in fiscal yr 2023/24, $6.1 million in 2024/25, and $2.1 million throughout the first quarter of 2025/26. The figures embrace journey costs, manufacturing payments, firm prices, influencer funds, events, and completely different in-market expenditures.

The influencer partnerships centered markets along with america, United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Canada, and Germany. Campaigns ranged from promoting New Zealand as a “Minecraft” downloadable content material materials trip spot to stargazing tourism, off-peak journey, and trip spot advocacy.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Authorities René de Monchy mentioned throughout the response that the group “makes use of a standardised selection course of to make it possible for messaging and content material materials attain the supposed viewers, align with our mannequin, and ship a return on funding.”

The corporate talked about it evaluates influencers primarily based totally on social profile, attain, engagement, and market suitability to characterize the New Zealand mannequin. In response to de Monchy, “a key influencer ought to have an actual must companion with Tourism New Zealand to have among the best consequence as an real storyteller.”

Effectivity Metrics and Evaluation

Tourism New Zealand revealed it measures advertising marketing campaign effectiveness by way of 4 key indicators: advertising marketing campaign recognition, along with attain and engagement; ability to assemble optimistic perceptions of New Zealand; impression on producing trip curiosity; and understanding of selling marketing campaign messages.

The corporate provided Equal Selling Value (EAV) figures representing what comparable safety would have value to purchase. The 2023/24 campaigns generated $307 million in EAV, whereas 2024/25 campaigns produced $389 million. The first quarter of 2025/26 yielded $148 million in EAV, though some campaigns had not however launched on the time of reporting.

Tourism New Zealand well-known that inside reporting and evaluations are structured spherical full campaigns reasonably than explicit individual promoting parts, making it unable to attribute a portion of EAV on to influencer content material materials.

The disclosure comes as journey content material materials on YouTube grew 64% throughout the second quarter of 2025, consistent with digital selling company Pixability. The journey class generated 593 billion views in Q2 2025, with creator-driven accounts comprising 95% of the very best 4,000 channels by viewership. Pixability evaluation signifies that clients are 98% further vulnerable to perception recommendations from YouTube creators than from creators on completely different social platforms.

Transparency Points

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator Rhys Hurley talked about: “Tourism New Zealand has racked up likes, views, and follows, nonetheless with reference to exhausting numbers, the corporate can’t really current what these influencers delivered.”

Hurley added: “If influencers are being paid to advertise New Zealand to the world, taxpayers ought to perceive how lots they’ve been straight paid and what they actually delivered in return.”

Tourism New Zealand’s response mentioned that prices paid to influencers are commercially delicate, stopping the disclosure of explicit individual value portions or detailed deliverables from influencers.