Auckland and New York City will cross-promote each other as tourism destinations under a new deal signed today.
NYC & Company - New York's official tourism marketing body - and Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development (ATEED) formalised the deal today, which is the first such deal signed with a South Pacific nation.
The deal will involve both agencies promoting their respective destinations through reciprocal marketing over two years, and comes as Air New Zealand prepares to launch a non-stop service between Auckland and New York.
NYC & Company president and CEO Fred Dixon said it was "gratifying to announce our newest city-to-city tourism partnership".
"Auckland's strong commitment to sustainability, arts and culture and culinary match New York City's same focus," Mr Dixon said.
"With the launch of Air New Zealand's new non-stop service between Auckland and New York City commencing this fall [spring in New Zealand], there could be no better time for our cities to strategically align."
Air New Zealand's first non-stop flight between the two cities will take off on October 29 this year.
The 14,207km route will fly three times weekly on the airline's new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with flight times of 15 hours 40 minutes to New York and 17 hours 40 minutes to Auckland.
ATEED chief executive Nick Hill said the deal would expand Auckland's presence in a major international city, and that sustainability was a core principle.
"Auckland's priorities involve focusing on visitor-facing facilities for waste and reduction, visitor education on how to travel responsibly and safely and share best practices around carbon reduction," Mr Hill said.
Air New Zealand's chief strategy, network and alliances officer Nick Judd said "this is a fantastic tourism opportunity and we're looking forward to playing our part to develop sustainable initiatives which deliver an outstanding visitor experience, while taking care of communities and the environment".
New York City has a population of about 8.6 million people - more than all of New Zealand combined - while Auckland had about 1.6 million as of 2017.
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