Dear Mal,
I am responding to your Ocial Information Act request asking for information about Tourism New
Zealand’s use of AI in advertising and the Minecraft marketing campaign.
Tourism New Zealand recognises that generative articial intelligence tools can enhance productivity
and deliver innovation by optimising processes and accessing a broader range of data.
Tourism New Zealand has an internal Generative Articial Intelligence Use Policy that outlines how it
should be used in our work.
The policy is based on the following general principles:
• Ethical and Responsible Use – AI tools must be used in a manner that is ethical and applies with all
applicable laws and regulations.
• Transparency – Users must be transparent about the use of AI tools and clearly disclose when
content is AI-generated.
• Accountability and Accuracy – AI tools may produce content that contain factual errors, biases, or
inappropriate content. Always check the accuracy, validity, and appropriateness of any outputs
generated by AI tools before these are deployed.
• Condentiality and Privacy – The following information should not be used in AI tools:
o Any condential information of and relating to Tourism New Zealand /Qualmark, partners,
suppliers or third parties;
o Any personal information (information held by Tourism New Zealand /Qualmark relating to any
person);
o Any information that would be withheld under the Ocial Information Act;
o Any Māori data, including imagery;
o Any other sensitive data.
Tourism New Zealand also endorses the AI usage guidance issue
d by Digital New Zealand for the public
service.
Approved Generative AI Tools and information security
Microsoft Copilot is the only approved organisation-wide AI tool at Tourism New Zealand. All
employees have access to the free version of Copilot that comes with their Microsoft 365 license and
can apply to upgrade to the paid version if there is a business reason to do so. Currently 17 employees
have the paid licence.
Copilot is covered by Microsoft Data Protection meaning it is private and not used to train AI models.
Tourism New Zealand’s digital teams have access to ChatGPT to help with proofreading and draft copy.
The information put into ChatGPT is focused on New Zealand as a holiday destination, publicly
available, and not subject to any security restrictions.
The use of any other generative AI tools must go through an assessment and approval process where
the use case, privacy and security are assessed.
Use of Generative AI in Tourism New Zealand’s marketing
The use of generative AI tools for the creation of marketing content at Tourism New Zealand requires
written approval.
Tourism New Zealand does not publish any content where photography, videos, sounds, or illustrations
have been created wholly or partly using generative AI. Partners we commission from, and work with,
are asked to conrm that none of the work they submit has been generated or augmented using
generative AI.
Generative AI tools can be used in media targeting and personalization through approved AI platforms
used by our global media agency partners.
Generative AI tools can also be used to help travel trade and consumers with planning and booking
their holiday and are used to suggest itineraries and places to visit in New Zealand on
newzealand.com. Use of this feature is popular and increasing.
When we use specialist agencies for marketing activity the contract ensures that any security, legal,
privacy, and ethical considerations regarding our data, brand, and intellectual property are addressed.
This includes the use of Generative AI and all agencies engaged by Tourism New Zealand must
complete an
AI Services Agreement.
Tourism New Zealand has not undertaken any research on the perceptions of marketing content that
is generated through AI.
Reddit advertising
The advertisement you reference was proofread and scanned by Copilot but not generated by AI. The
production and placement of the Minecraft advertisement across our key markets cost $99,000.
Tourism New Zealand is using Reddit as an advertising channel for our global Minecraft promotion.
Reddit has an estimated Minecraft audience of over 96 million across our key markets in the USA, UK
and Australia. Reddit’s audience is larger than TikTok, Facebook and Instagram for Minecraft-related
engagement.
The performance metrics for our Minecraft Reddit advertising include content views, upvotes,
impressions and reach.
Minecraft campaign
Minecraft is one of the most popular games in history. It is available across all gaming formats and has
170 million active monthly users.
Research in our key markets showed there was strong interest In Minecraft within Tourism New
Zealand’s target market and potential audience. 57% of our target audience in Australia are engaged
with Minecraft, 78% in China and 67% in the United States. Our research also showed that a signicant
percentage of those engaging with the game were also interested in experiencing New Zealand via the
game.
Tourism New Zealand, in partnership with game creators Mojang and local content producer Piki
Studios created New Zealand as a playable world or Downloadable Content (DLC) in Minecraft, letting
players experience New Zealand through the game.
The New Zealand Minecraft world can be downloaded for free from the Minecraft marketplace and to
publicise the release, Tourism New Zealand is investing in signicant advertising and public relations
activity across all our key markets to encourage gamers to play online then visit the real thing in New
Zealand.
Tourism New Zealand will also host gaming inuencers in New Zealand as part of a ‘play online then
play for real’ campaign to promote the DLC and New Zealand holiday experiences to the global gaming
community.
The campaign will also extend to our travel trade partners with dedicated modules on the destinations
featured in the game and self-guided itineraries available for travel agents to visit each attraction
featured in the game.
The full Minecraft campaign cost $5,070,575 and this includes content development and production,
agency costs, famil travel, talent and paid advertising spend, a global launch across eight markets,
production of all global assets, paid media in six markets, and PR activity in nine markets. It also
includes a trade programme such as joint ventures with partners in nine markets, and a Destination
Minecraft famil programme for more than 20 media outlets and inuencers from eight markets.
Measures of success
Performance measures across the Minecraft campaign include:
Public relations
Equivalent Advertising Value (EAV) or what it would have cost to purchase the advertising
Social media
Engagement, sentiment, video views, site visits and reach
Activity on Newzealand.com website
Active user rate, time on site, email open rate
Activity on Trade.newzealand.com website
Time on site, email open rate and email click-throughs, LinkedIn engagement, training course
completions and self-famil applications from travel agents
New Zealand audience
Media impact score, reach
Paid advertising
Brand lift increase, engagement, conversion rates, cost per acquisition.
Overall, we expect the Minecraft campaign to generate $50 million in spend and an additional $50
million in international visitor spending with a return on investment of 20:1.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of our response to your
request. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely,
Brodie McLeish
General Manager, Marketing
