A tourism campaign by the New Zealand government aimed at getting more Australians to visit has been mocked by residents.
Posters using the slogan “everyone must go” were intended to “let Australia know that New Zealand is a ‘must visit’ destination”, according to a government announcement on Sunday.
But the campaign has since been labelled tone deaf, as the country deals with record emigration rates and unemployment.
While others said the slogan invited toilet jokes.
“I think ‘Everyone Must Go’ might refer to the need for toilets in some of our high-tourist spots. I mean, the queues are ridiculous,” Green Party tourism spokesperson Celia Wade-Brown told New Zealand news outlet RNZ.
Another person on X re-created the ad showing two toilet cubicles and writing “loo paper included”.
Labour’s tourism spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel added: “It makes New Zealand sound like we’re in a clearance bin at a sale… the irony of that messaging is, that’s how Aotearoa New Zealanders are feeling right now.
“There’s been so many cuts, so people feel like ‘well, what’s not on the list of cuts’.”
A spokesperson for tourism minister Louise Upston told Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News, that she was “very pleased with the campaign announcement” and it “has attracted positive feedback”.
Launching the campaign alongside Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Ms Upton said the new initiative had cost 500,000 New Zealand dollars (£227,000) and will “encourage more of our neighbours to book now and come on over”.
“The number of Australian arrivals in New Zealand increased by more than 90,000, up from 1.27 million to 1.36 million over the past year, but we know there’s more room to grow,” she said.
“This campaign builds on that momentum and capitalises on the work already done to establish New Zealand as an appealing destination.”
Record emigration figures
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand has struggled to restore its tourism industry, with current government figures showing the number of Australian visitors at 88% of 2019 levels.
But the bid to get more people visiting the country comes as record numbers of people are leaving the Pacific nation.
Data released by Statistics New Zealand last November showed that 127,800 people left the country in 12 months, up 28% on the previous period.
Of those leaving, more than 50% were New Zealand citizens, according to the data.
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The bureau said at the time the figures provisionally indicated the highest ever number of people leaving in an annual period.
Fuelling people leaving is the country’s struggling economy, which technically sank into a recession last year.
Last month, officials said they were easing visa rules to allow digital nomads to work in New Zealand while visiting on holiday, in the hope that they would spend more time there.
