REPUBLIKA.CO.ID,JAKARTA -- Tourism New Zealand's work to establish its foundations in the priority emerging market of Indonesia is progressing well. In the last couple of months a new office space alongside our NZ Inc. colleagues in Jakarta was finalised and we have almost completed our recruitment process.

Last month we announced a series of senior appointments. Christian Sidharta is taking up the role of Country Manager, leaving his current role with corporate travel management company HRG Singapore; Aristo Kristandyo has been appointed Marketing Communications Manager, leaving Garuda Indonesia (Citilink) where he was VP Marketing Communications.

With solid experience across the travel industry the team will provide a significant level of expertise. The full team will be in place from early November, and they will lead TNZ's activity to target potential travellers, while building demand and capturing future growth opportunities to secure a strong, long-term position for the New Zealand tourism industry.

As with any market, aviation links are critical to the success of a sustainable visitor flow. To date, we have engaged with Indonesia from our Singapore office, and New Zealand has been promoted through indirect services with the likes of Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. The obvious goal is to secure direct air links to Jakarta, and both Auckland International Airport and TNZ have recently been in positive discussions with Garuda Airlines, but no date has been committed to at this stage. In the meantime we welcome Air New Zealand's increase to four flights per week for the 2014 seasonal service.

To ensure a sound understanding of the market and what actions TNZ can take to improve visitor numbers, we have also completed a detailed analysis of the market's potential for delivering visitors to New Zealand.

This included examining general consumer trends, and the market's size and behaviours, before delving into the defined target market of 'emerging considerers' - who, like 'active considerers', already have a preference for New Zealand as a holiday destination, but are further from choosing it as their next destination.

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