Destination Palmy

Palmerston North is not known as a tourist mecca and therein lied the challenge of attracting visitors and tourist dollars.

Leveraging its central North Island location some of the unique attractions of the area we created the “Only XX from YY” campaign around the line “Get up close and Palmy.” Using social media, radio and strategic outdoor placements we promoted their restaurant choices (highest per capita of cafes in NZ), their smart and friendly people (more PhDs per capita than anywhere else in NZ), their attractions for adults (cycle trails) and kids (NZ longest miniature railway) and the home of NZ’s national rugby museum.

Today, Palmerston North is by far New Zealand’s most popular tourist destination, with a visitor count exceeding that of the entire South Island.