Posted 23 Sep 2009

One tourist board has started a new campaign encouraging those on a gap year in New Zealand to extend their stay and get a working holiday visa.

Tourism New Zealand explained that the scheme, entitled Go All The Way, aims to paint a picture of the country as a "must visit" location for young people.

Chief executive officer George Hickton said that although many backpackers from the UK and Europe head to Australia in their gap year, "we want to challenge them to complete the journey and ‘Go All The Way’ by coming down to New Zealand".

Most working holiday visas for the country will give travellers the opportunity to stay in the area for up to a year, although those from the UK can extend their visit to up to 23 months.

It seems as though those on a gap year are keen to head down under, as figures published by the Australian Visa Bureau recently revealed that 187,969 Australian working holiday visas have been issued.

Category: Australasia