New Zealand is about to make a tourism push in southern China in the wake of a new airline planning routes from Guangzhou to Auckland and back.

Tourism New Zealand has planned to expand its marketing efforts to China so as to gain benefits from the new airline route.

China Southern Airlines is slated to make flights thrice a week from Guangzhou and Auckland and vice-versa, next year April onwards.

The chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, Kevin Bowler, opines that till now New Zealand had been focusing on its own promotion to the northern regions of China where Air New Zealand offers services to Shanghai and Beijing. However he says that Guangzhou is significant because it is the third most populated city in China.

He further said that the catchment area is a very different one and is a very significant area for China commercially.

He also added that the people hailing from Guangzhou are usually well-travelled and most likely are a little more Western in their outlook. He said that they are extremely positive about the numbers and quality of the visitors.

At present, China is the fourth largest tourism market for New Zealand and soon to be third.