New Zealand plans major offensive to tempt expats home

The New Zealand government has launched a campaign to convince ex-patriots living in the UK to pack up and head home.

The campaign, launched in London by illuminating New Zealand House, aims to remind New Zealanders living abroad what they are missing.

A website – newzealandnow.info –has been set up and a London-based marketing company Hubbub has been hired by the New Zealand government to prepare what it describes as a “sustained campaign” extolling the benefits of life in “The Land of the Long White Cloud”.

The campaign’s launch has been planned to coincide with the New Zealand All Blacks’ rugby tour of the UK. Marketing teams were present in Cardiff last weekend and will also follow New Zealanders supporters to Dublin, London and Edinburgh.

Leaflets are being distributed in pubs and clubs that are popular with New Zealanders. Other activities, including a poster campaign on the London Underground, are expected later this year.

Some 55,000 New Zealanders are thought to be living in the UK. Their homeland boasts a booming economy and an unemployment rate of just 3.7 per cent – the lowest in the developed world. The government is keen to attract young skilled workers back to meet demand.

The website is designed to connect ex-pats with opportunities in New Zealand.