TOURISM NEW Zealand is harnessing the power of the selfie.

The organisation brought four Australian “social media influencers” across the Ditch and showed them the country’s North Island hotspots, so they could post Instagram photographs online.

Jasmin Howell (@friendinfashion), Emilie Ristevski (@helloemilie), Sjana Earp (@sjanaelise) and Sean Scott(@seanscottphotography) spent five days in September experiencing everything from Hobbiton to a bungy jump from the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

Tourism NZ’s international media programme has a budget of $1.9 million but the organisation says it has a “total equivalent advertising value . . . estimated by our media agencies as being $194m – more than Tourism NZ’s entire operating budget”.

It is the first time Tourism NZ has organised a trip specifically for Instagram users.

“The influencers selected are popular lifestyle, fashion, photography, art and travel bloggers in Australia and their content and images align well with our work to target the youth segment in Australia,” Tourism NZ general manager Australia Tony Saunders said.

Tourism NZ said the campaign, done in conjunction with Flight Centre, generated “an equivalent advertising value . . . in the region of $602,520” and was a “great example” of the “value for money this work represents”.

Last year, Tourism NZ also hosted five German lifestyle, travel and popular culture bloggers on a 10-day “whirlwind” adventure across the country.

They wrote blog posts and also shared their experiences via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

University of Canterbury marketing lecturer Dr Girish Prayag said using social media for advertising purposes worked “incredibly well” for the youth market.

“Worldwide, the influence of bloggers on individual travel decision-making is growing. With increasing competition between destinations, a few pertinent images that arouse an emotional connection with the destination are more likely to be remembered.”

Sean Scott, a 40-year-old landscape photographer who runs surf art galleries in Australia, said he received a “huge response” to his images from the trip “with a lot of people commenting about going to New Zealand”.

Jasmin Howell, a 28-year-old Melbourne-based blogger, said digital marketing and working with “social influencers” was “definitely becoming a more and more vital part of a brand’s overall marketing mix”.

“More and more opportunities like this have appeared in the last 6 to 12 months, which I think indicates the take-up and acknowledgement of the importance of social reach and influence,” Howell said.

“I was completely overwhelmed by the stunning natural beauty of your country [and] my Instagram followers responded well and engaged along my journey,” she said.

Prayag said hosting the four bloggers would have cost Tourism NZ “far less” than what it would have to have a similar impact using either print or broadcast coverage.

In the 2013/2014 financial year, Tourism NZ’s international media programme hosted 292 media personnel with coverage published across an estimated 445 outlets.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/63244087/snaphappy-bloggers-are-future-for-tourism