Auckland International Airport (AIA) has been announced as a community partner to the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival 2012 and says it is "very keen to be useful".
The minority shareholder in the Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) has got behind the festival as a sponsor and plans to put its marketing and promotion resources to good use.
It became a shareholder in 2010 after the QAC created and sold it a 24.99% new shareholding for $27.7 million, starting a lengthy legal saga.
AIA general manager corporate affairs Charles Spillane said the festival was a useful marketing tool for promoting Queenstown as a long-haul winter holiday destination.
"We can promote the festival and Queenstown to Aucklanders and international visitors at our airports and on our billboards, and spread the word throughout New Zealand and offshore markets through our trade and marketing partners, including airlines and connections we work with across the world.""We're very keen to be useful and we're also keen to get to Queenstown and join in the fun," Mr Spillane said.
Festival director Simon Green welcomed the partnership, saying it was a new sponsorship category which "allows us to acknowledge the spirit behind the partnership".
"This relationship has been squarely focused on helping us deliver the festival events such as the Family Fun Day and Mardi Gras that are really core to our community and, as such, are very precious."
