Associate Minister of Transport Nathan Guy told the New Zealand Airports Conference in Queenstown last week the 2011 RWC would offer "a huge opportunity to open up new markets and exploit existing connections with the rest of the world".
"Airports have a huge role to play as an international gateway to a small nation a long way from our potential visitors and trading partners," he said.
The Government's top priority for transport was to maximise its contribution to economic growth and productivity in New Zealand, he said.
Economically, it had been a "tough couple of years" for New Zealand tourism, but numbers of domestic and international visitors had held up reasonably well, he said.
Drawing from a recent Government tourism report, Mr Guy said "on average, every half an hour 690 New Zealanders start a domestic holiday and 42 Australian visitors start a New Zealand holiday".
"Domestic tourism is worth more to us in a year than international tourism in New Zealand."
There were 25 airports in New Zealand which did not cater directly for the overseas market.
Mr Guy said 85,000 visitors were expected to travel to New Zealand for the RWC, the majority of whom would be high-income earners from Australia and the United Kingdom.
In May, Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism John Key revealed the tourism industry would receive $30 million in new funding in 2010-11.
Mr Guy said the time was right for everyone in the aviation industry to be promoting their regions and New Zealand overall as a visitor destination.
Security measures were being "tightened" in preparation for the event, but Mr Guy said it was important to make sure the extra measures did not stop people from enjoying themselves.
The Ministry of Transport was setting up security committees at 21 New Zealand airports.
David Hall, chief executive officer of Jetstar Australia and New Zealand, announced plans to increase Jetstar's domestic flight frequency by 50% in anticipation of the 2011 RWC.
"We have the network guys in Melbourne busily looking at ways that we can support the economy and get people travelling around New Zealand to really enjoy the experience," he said.
