Marketing general manager Brodie McLeish said New Zealand offers a holistic view of wellness compared to the approach of purchasing it, whether that be products or studio visits. <\/p>\n
The country\u2019s natural environment stands out in the competitive market \u2013 rather than paying for a cold ice bath plunge, visitors could \u201ctake a dip in a glacial lake\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only can you come down to New Zealand and get a reset, but you can actually do that, you know, in just a week,\u201d McLeish said, noting the US market has limited paid time off compared to others. <\/p>\n
M\u0101ori culture and manaakitanga (hospitality, generosity) also offer a distinct experience only available in Aotearoa. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe think we\u2019ve got a really interesting wellness proposition when you couple wellness tourism with te ao M\u0101ori and the te ao M\u0101ori view, so that connection to people, connection to place, and connection to others and yourself,\u201d McLeish said.<\/p>\n
This prompts a return to New Zealand\u2019s tourism roots of geothermal wonders and M\u0101ori hospitality. <\/p>\n
In the 1800s, Rotorua\u2019s Pink and White Terraces initially attracted attention from visitors from around the world, and interest was maintained after their destruction with the subsequent creation of unique geothermal offerings. <\/p>\n
Tourism growth continued into the 1900s with claims the mineral hot pools were healing, spurring the birth of the Rotorua Bath House \u2013 the first of the Government\u2019s investments in tourism, in 1908.<\/p>\n
Rotorua’s historic Bath House is now the Rotorua Museum, which has been closed for restoration and strengthening since 2016.<\/p>\n
Rotorua still offers geothermal wellness experiences that are unique globally, including the new Wai Ariki wellness spa on the waterfront, among many options. <\/p>\n
Wai Ariki is inspired by te ao M\u0101ori and describes itself as a \u201cM\u0101ori cultural wellness destination, where luxury spa experiences and geothermal bathing are guided by the healing traditions of local iwi, Ng\u0101ti Whakaue\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rotorua is just one of the destinations highlighted in the campaign. The wairua (spirit) in Northland\u2019s kauri forest, a cold plunge in Kaik\u014dura\u2019s chilly waters and journeys to the mountain lakes of Nelson or Auckland\u2019s Wait\u0101kere Ranges also feature.<\/p>\n
Rotorua offers many unique geothermal wellness experiences. Photo \/ Tourism New Zealand<\/p>\n
Tourism New Zealand is flying American wellness influencer Liz Moody over to showcase Aotearoa\u2019s offerings to a US audience during a seven-day reset. <\/p>\n
The US is New Zealand\u2019s second-biggest tourism market, contributing $2.18 billion to the economy in the year to June 2026. McLeish described it as high value and \u201cextremely vital\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s got great momentum as well, it\u2019s 105% recovered, and holiday arrivals are 110% recovered since pre-Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tourism New Zealand is hoping to grow the Studio New Zealand campaign beyond the US market, but continuation will depend on results. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve got all of the pieces there to have this continue on for a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grace Symmans<\/a> is a Wellington-based reporter who covers news in the capital. Grace joined NZME in 2025 as a producer for Wellington Mornings on Newstalk ZB. She can be emailed at grace.symmans@nzme.co.nz<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marketing general manager Brodie McLeish said New Zealand offers a holistic view of wellness compared to the approach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[8239,6336,806,682,317139,138,42601,3470,248734,17515,2082,3247,2355,194,126,5971,117,111,139,69,114736,20501,103127,11588,317138,5436,8475,223,46232,8238,9717,5510,6123,80],"class_list":["post-647193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-american","tag-americans","tag-as","tag-being","tag-birdsong","tag-business","tag-chorus","tag-clear","tag-distinctly","tag-experience","tag-for","tag-forest","tag-geothermal","tag-kiwi","tag-native","tag-need","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-promoted","tag-relaxing","tag-reset","tag-retreat","tag-serenaded","tag-stars","tag-thats","tag-the","tag-ultimate","tag-under","tag-visitors","tag-wellness","tag-while","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}