Tourism New Zealand launched its latest campaign, Stargrazing, as part of a cheeky challenge to The Michelin Guide.
After years of having its world-class restaurants snubbed on account of remote geography, the destination will be taking matters into its own hands, creating a restaurant it claims has “more stars” than any other under the star-embellished skies of the foothills of New Zealand’s Southern Alps.
Tourism New Zealand collaborated with globally renowned chef and restauranteur Ben Bayly to produce a one-of-a-kind restaurant experience with a bespoke six-course menu showcasing the breadth of native New Zealand ingredients. The event occurred on 09AUG, with the formal campaign launching the following week. The menu showcases the breadth of native New Zealand ingredients, and 50 international tastemakers were invited to judge the local cuisine for themselves.
“With this campaign we’re proving that our cuisine is worthy of a star or a billion, while showcasing New Zealand our fantastic dark skies and winter experiences in our key markets such as Australia, the US and China which are driving New Zealand’s tourism recovery.”
“Stargrazing is based on consumer insight that New Zealand’s dark sky offering is increasingly important to 70% of potential off-peak visitors and for many visitors food is the number one topic of interest for 85% of potential travellers from our top markets,” de Monchy added.
After inviting industry to submit their dark sky locations, in partnership with Christchurch NZ, TNZ hosted international tastemakers at ‘the restaurant with the most stars’ to put New Zealand’s night skies and world class cuisine on the map.
Set beneath Kura Tawhiti at the foot of the Southern Alps, the pop-up Pou-o-Kai restaurant gathered media, tastemakers and social media advocates from TNZ’s key markets. They included Australian food critic Sofia Levin, Ashley Day of the US’ Food and Wine and Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia who will share their experiences, including produce sourced from across the country for a unique menu prepared by acclaimed New Zealand chef Ben Bayly.
The campaign will showcase New Zealand’s stargazing and culinary offering all over the country and will include the coverage generated by the event and attendees’ travels around New Zealand before and after. This will be coupled with a comprehensive suite of trade training resources focused on growing off-peak visitation for travel agents, and TNZ’s channels on social media and newzealand.com which potential traveller use to plan their trip.
Chef Ben Bayly says he’s excited to promote our hospitality sector to the world and show them how far we have come over the last 20 years.
“I’m also incredibly proud to be asked to do this pop-up, Pou-o-Kai, beneath Kura Tawhiti.
“It’s the perfect time to shine a light on Aotearoa’s hospitality industry on the world stage, we have our own unique culture of hosting guests in New Zealand which we call manakitanga and the love of showcasing New Zealand as an extraordinary destination is in the DNA of every Kiwi!”
“Stargrazing is a special campaign for Canterbury as it aligns with two key priorities of the region’s Destination Management Plan, culinary leadership and dark sky experiences. Canterbury’s advanced farming practices make it a unique destination for high quality food production, which is then artfully prepared by our talented community of chefs in Ōtautahi Christchurch,” says ChristchurchNZ Head of Visitor Economy Kath Low.
