Indonesian celebrity embarks on New Zealand tour

Farah Quinn, Indonesian celebrity chef and TV personality of significant fame in her home country, touched down in Auckland last week to begin a tour of New Zealand as part of Auckland Airport’s wider campaign to promote our premium tourism destinations internationally.

An extensive social media user with more than one million fans on Facebook, and 237,000 on Twitter, Farah is touring Auckland, Waiheke Island, Kauri Cliffs, the Bay of Islands, Matakana and Queenstown, making regular updates and sharing content as she visits iconic locations around New Zealand and promotes them in her home country.

Starring in her own hit TV cooking series, Ala Chef, Farah has embarked on a wide range of activities throughout her career, from creating desserts for the likes of First Lady Bush at G8 Summits, to modelling for FHM – she also takes great pride in being a devoted wife and mother, with her four year old son joining her for the tour.

“Farah’s tour of New Zealand is part of Auckland Airport’s on-going work to reinforce the quality of New Zealand tourism locations and develop premium tourism markets,” says Glenn Wedlock, General Manager Aeronautical Commercial for Auckland Airport. “The range of high-quality travel options here is extensive, but compared to Europe and the US they are relatively unknown within Asia."

“We’re aiming to use the strength of her popularity at home, particularly via social media, to get the message that New Zealand is a must-see luxury destination to a tremendously important and rapidly growing market.”

This announcement follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Garuda Indonesia at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister John Key and the New Zealand and Indonesian Trade Ministers in Jakarta recently, and reinforces Auckland Airport’s commitment to promoting New Zealand to this emerging premium market.

In addition to helping promote New Zealand as a premium tourism destination, Auckland Airport is working with tourism and trade experts from Indonesia to help New Zealand businesses get ready for these visitors at TRENZ in Queenstown this week. This all links back to the Airport's Ambition 2020 initiative which was announced last week, highlighting China, Indonesia and other ASEAN markets such as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore as vitally important for growing our tourism market.

With a population of around 240 million, Indonesia comprises around 45 percent of the ASEAN economy and is quickly transforming into a global economic powerhouse.  There are already more than 42 million Facebook users in Indonesia, and by 2015 the number of millionaires is expected to triple according to a Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) wealth report, making the market a significant opportunity for New Zealand by any measure.