AIRNZ and Tourism Australia have signed an MoU that will see more than A$6 million invested in joint marketing over three years to increase visitor numbers to Australia from New Zealand, North America and China.

The money will go on advertising, PR, events and trade engagement.

"Together New Zealand, America and China account for more than a third of Australia's annual international arrivals and, importantly, all three markets are growing. This new deal provides a strong platform from which to further grow inbound tourism from all three of these key inbound markets," TA MD Andrew McEvoy says.

AirNZ CEO Christopher Luxon says the partnership will be the airline's largest outside New Zealand.

"AirNZ carries almost half of all New Zealand visitor arrivals into Australia and we have invested heavily in our trans-Tasman services in recent years, including the introduction of our ‘seats to suit' fare structure, which allows us to offer a range of competitive fares and service levels within the one aircraft, and the introduction of new routes such as the seasonal Auckland-Sunshine Coast service.

"We are also welcoming the opportunity to engage in joint promotional activity in China and North America. As a market experiencing exponential growth, China presents a huge opportunity for our industry, while the North American market continues to go from strength to strength for our region. In fact over one-third of all North American visitors to New Zealand arrive or depart via Australia," says Mr Luxon.

"This deal also gives us important access from North America - from AirNZ's own direct presence in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, but also through the connections and ‘feeder traffic' provided by its alliance with United Airlines, which opens up cities like New York and Chicago," says Mr McEvoy.

"AirNZ has also extended its reach into China and Hong Kong with its alliance partners Air China and Cathay Pacific. These two markets present significant opportunities for us to attract high-value niche travellers".

"AirNZ's alliance with Virgin Australia on the Tasman provides travellers with greater frequency and connectivity with access to 34 Australian ports," he says. "We are looking forward to seeing the two carriers extend their reach even further later this year through the introduction of a seasonal direct service between Christchurch and Perth. Aviation partnerships such as these remain key to Australian tourism achieving its long-term tourism 2020 goals."