Tourism · Travel Photography
Air New Zealand
PCH Roadtrip
A travel and tourism photography campaign for Air New Zealand documenting a North Island Pacific Coast Highway roadtrip through New Zealand, from Auckland to Wellington over 12 days.
The brief called for imagery that would speak to international travelers considering New Zealand as a destination: coastal food culture, dramatic landscapes, unhurried road culture, and the local producers and restaurants that make the PCH one of the world's hidden food travel routes.
About the Project
California's coast, seen through the lens of food and travel
Air New Zealand's PCH Roadtrip campaign required imagery that could do two things simultaneously: inspire international travelers to book a New Zealand itinerary, and authentically represent the food and hospitality culture that makes the route worth driving.
Working on location across multiple days, Tom captured coastal restaurants and wine bars, farmers markets and roadside stands, vineyards and beachside dining, building a visual library that speaks to travelers who eat their way through a destination rather than just sightseeing it.
The result is a campaign anchored in texture and specificity: the particular light of a Central Coast morning, the handwriting on a chalkboard menu, the way a glass of Pinot looks against the Pacific. Imagery designed to make the viewer feel the pull of the road.
Approach & Craft
Travel photography that moves people to book
Tourism and travel photography succeeds when it tells the truth beautifully. Tom's approach on this project prioritized authentic moments and real places over styled set pieces. Every frame was shot in the actual restaurants, markets, and landscapes that define PCH food culture.
The visual language was calibrated for Air New Zealand's international audience: warm but not oversaturated, editorial rather than commercial, with enough negative space to work across digital, print, and social formats. Forty-seven final selects covering food, interiors, landscapes, and portraits gave the client a complete, flexible visual library.
For tourism boards, airlines, hotel groups, and travel publications considering similar campaigns, Tom's travel photography work combines the rigor of editorial production with the commercial flexibility of campaign-ready deliverables. Available for multi-day and multi-location travel projects worldwide.