A very Royal opportunity
Afew years ago, some of us working at Tourism New Zealand did something rather mad. We got some clever Kiwis to create a giant inflatable rugby ball, filled it with air and invited the Queen inside.
She didn’t have to go far. We’d parked the 25 metres long, 13m-high inflatable structure in front of the Tower Bridge. It was backed up by a generator to keep it full of air should the power fail.
I admit I had sleepless nights thinking about what could go wrong, plus a few nightmares of the Queen battling a deflating balloon. But she stepped inside our giant publicity stunt along with husband Prince Phillip, then London Mayor Boris Johnson, newly elected PM John Key and half the All Blacks.
It was a coup for New Zealand and the Rugby World Cup 2011 event we were promoting, because if you want to get worldwide media coverage: call a royal.
Now we’re about to be called on by the most glamorous of royal couples, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
However sceptical you may be, the royal influence is still enormous.
Publishers know if they stick a royal on the cover of a magazine or paper they’ll sell more copies and get more website hits.
Fashion designers know that if a royal wears one of their creations their brand value will leap.
I admit checking out Emilia Wickstead’s website after I saw Meghan in one of her designs. Royal tours cost us all plenty.
The 2014 visit by Prince William, Kate and new baby George was said to have cost at least $1 million.
No-one’s putting a figure on this one, but there are plenty of helicopter rides, fancy-pants hotels and formal dinners to get the cash registers pinging.
During their visit, Meghan and Harry will be doing things they’re said to be interested in: meeting mental health community groups; checking our conservation efforts in the Abel Tasman and Rotorua; wandering through Auckland’s viaduct; visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior; and doing some Kiwiana gumboot throwing.
And yes, when the photographers snap Meghan and Harry with a ‘‘100% Pure NZ’’ image behind them we’ll catch the eye of the fickle international tourism market for an instant as the pictures are syndicated around the world and boost awareness of New Zealand.
But I wonder if we’ve missed an even greater opportunity when selecting activities for Meghan and Harry.
I’m sure our visits and ceremonials people did a great job delivering on the royal interests. But could we have thought a bit more outside the square. Imagine if they got to check out Engrich Engineering’s bespoke luxury motorcycle made partially of 3D-printed parts. Or what if they’d seen how scientists are planting manuka to improve water quality. Perhaps someone could tell them the wonders of what our bee venom can do for their bodies. Or they could have had a go with a drone developed in the Waikato which helps antipoaching of rhinos at night in Africa.
We could be showing off some of our hidden talents to Harry and Meghan and, in so doing, we’d have shown the world another side of New Zealand alongside our amazing scenery.
After all, Harry’s grandparents got to try something truly different when they stepped inside our inflatable rugby ball. In my view that trumps anything their grandson and his new wife are about to do here.