issued August 2004   

Play Safe in New Zealand with Lonely Planet

The New Zealand government has collaborated with the world's leading travel publisher, Lonely Planet, to produce an innovative new publication to protect visitors to New Zealand.

The brochure, entitled Play Safe in New Zealand is to be distributed globally with the new edition of Lonely Planet’s New Zealand guidebook, released in September 2004.

The initiative is a joint project between Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation, using Lonely Planet’s extensive travel publishing resources.

New Zealand Minister of Tourism Mark Burton said working with Lonely Planet was a coup: "We are not the first country to put together a health and safety brochure for visitors, but we are the first to combine it into a consumer, destination brochure in this way. The input of Lonely Planet makes this a highly useful resource for independent travellers to use throughout their time in New Zealand."

George Hickton, Chief Executive of Tourism New Zealand said, "Lonely Planet targets independent-minded travellers, the same type of people we are trying to attract to New Zealand. It's really important that these visitors have the knowledge they need to make the most of their time in New Zealand and this brochure is one way of helping achieve this."

Lonely Planet’s Chief Executive Officer, Judy Slatyer, believes the brochure will play a constructive role in attracting visitors to New Zealand. “Our aim with the Play Safe In New Zealand brochure is to offer valuable safety advice with genuinely useful insights about New Zealand. We know people expect more from a Lonely Planet publication than other sources of tourist information and this is no exception.”

Judy Slatyer revealed that Lonely Planet staff voted New Zealand “hottest destination in the world” in both 2003 and 2004. “We are well aware of New Zealand’s popularity with travellers. Our New Zealand guide recently beat our Australia guide to become our top selling publication globally.”

Play Safe in New Zealand will be available for free in New Zealand through the i-SITE Visitor Information Network, and other distribution points. The information will also be available online at www.newzealand.com.

Play Safe in New Zealand covers a wide range of information including water safety, road rules and outdoor adventure information, as well as key locations and activities.