Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton is stepping down from the position he has held for the past 10 years.

Mr Hickton, who drove the internationally successful 100% Pure NZ branding campaign and saw visitor numbers surge with more than one million from Australia this year, said now was the right time for him to go.

The successful 100% Pure New Zealand tourism marketing campaign will turn 10 years old this year, providing some cheer for an industry battling the economic downturn.

After a rocky start, the campaign that was rushed through in 1999 to meet the new millennium has become New Zealand’s longest-running tourism campaign and one of the longest-running global campaigns in the world.

A Tourism New Zealand initiative travelling the country making videos of comments from international visitors has received media attention on the other side of the world.

The Sunday Times in the UK, which has a circulation of 1.3 million, has highlighted the project as one of the “Ten Most Ingenious Offers” from the travel industry during the recession.

And it seems to be a hit online as well; already over 100,000 people have viewed these ‘raves’ about New Zealand on video-sharing site Youtube.

Tourism New Zealand has found a new way of promoting this country as a destination – hosting two episodes of US hit TV show The Bachelor.

The reality show, now in its 13th season on the ABC network, was filmed in parts of Northland and Queenstown as part of Tourism New Zealand’s International Media Programme

It’s the latest in a string of media productions that have been latched on to for tourism promotion in recent years, the most notable being movie trilogy Lord of the Rings.