REVEALED: Tourism NZ’s Influencer Spend Hides Behind $9.4 Million

The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal Tourism New Zealand has spent more than $9.4 million on social media influencers since 23/24, without providing any breakdown of this spending and citing commercial sensitivity. 

The response shows that 65 influencers across global markets were engaged to promote campaigns ranging from destination marketing to Minecraft downloadable content and online shopping promotions. 

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said: 

“Tourism New Zealand has racked up likes, views, and follows, but when it comes to hard numbers, the agency can’t actually show what these influencers delivered.” 

“Taxpayers are told this spending produced sky high advertising value, yet how does this prove whether influencers made a meaningful difference or were just along for the ride.” 

“If influencers are being paid to sell New Zealand to the world, taxpayers deserve to know how much they were directly paid and what they actually delivered in return.” 

“Influencer marketing might look good on a screen, but public spending needs to stand up to scrutiny. Until Tourism New Zealand can show clear results, this looks more like chasing clicks than accountability.”