New Zealand programme FAQ

No. Explera never provides flights, international or domestic. You book and pay for your own flights to New Zealand and any domestic flight, for example between Auckland and Queenstown. We provide hotel, transfers and activities on the ground once you land. We also do not provide cash fees, visas, the NZeTA, the international visitor levy or travel insurance.

Hosted tiers start at 150,000 followers on your primary channel, whether that is Instagram, YouTube, TikTok or an equivalent blog audience. The number decides your tier, from Rising to Authority, and above five million we build the trip individually. Under 150k we still reply and consider a single activity or tour in New Zealand, without hotel or transfers.

Creators aged 18 or over with a primary channel they built themselves and a blog or website of their own. We verify reach, engagement quality, audience geography, niche fit and content quality before confirming anything. Bought followers, engagement pods or past sponsorships that were not disclosed end the conversation. You also need your own flights, insurance and any visa or NZeTA your passport requires.

Yes. Every applicant must own a blog or website as well as their primary social channel, and that includes Spotlight applicants. A social profile or link-in-bio page does not count. We check that the site is live and belongs to you. It carries your pre-trip announcement and your post-trip blog post with a do-follow link to the agreed Explera page.

Your tier's hotel nights, return airport transfer in a private licensed vehicle and the activities in your agreed itinerary are hosted. You pay for flights, travel insurance, any visa or NZeTA and the visitor levy, and personal extras: shopping, extra drinks, spa add-ons and any upgrade that was not agreed. Meals are included only where the itinerary says so.

From Rising tier upwards, yes: one night at a 3-star or equivalent hotel for Rising, rising to five nights at a 5-star or equivalent for Authority, with breakfast. New Zealand accommodation is graded differently from other countries, and some lodges are not graded at all, which is why we say "or equivalent". Spotlight collaborations do not include a hotel, and Bespoke trips are built individually.

You disclose under the rules of your audience's markets. For a New Zealand audience, the Advertising Standards Authority treats a hosted trip as advertising: label each post clearly and upfront, for example "Ad", separate from your other hashtags, and do not rely on "gifted" or "hosted" alone. The exact wording for your collaboration is written into your agreement.

Once you are approved and before you travel, you publish two announcements: a social post saying you are travelling to New Zealand with Explera, tagging @expleradmc, and a blog post on your own site announcing the trip and linking to the agreed Explera page. Both are disclosed, submitted in the portal with a URL and screenshot, and checked before you travel.

No. The collaboration is non-exclusive. You can work with other brands, hotels or tourism organisations in New Zealand before, during and after your hosted trip, as long as each collaboration is disclosed to your audience in the way its own agreement requires.

No. We never script or pre-approve your editorial content, and you decide what you say about New Zealand and about us. We only check that the agreed tags, links and disclosure are in place, and we may ask for a factual correction, such as a wrong price, a safety detail on a track or the name of an iwi.

At least three weeks before you travel. We answer within five business days, and scheduling needs at least a week after you sign the agreement. The form warns you if your dates are sooner. For the southern summer and the ski season, apply well ahead, because Queenstown and Lake Tekapo have limited rooms at peak times. Allow time for your NZeTA or visa too.

Usually, on day tours, if it is agreed in advance and your companion is named in the itinerary. Adventure operators set their own age, height and health rules, which your companion must meet. Your companion's flights, NZeTA or visa, insurance and personal extras are paid by you or them.

Assume not, unless it is agreed in writing. Civil Aviation Authority rules (Part 101) apply to every flight, including height limits, distance from aerodromes and consent to fly over people and property. Flying on conservation land, including national parks, needs a DOC permit, and many parks rarely or never grant one. Councils and Auckland's tūpuna maunga have their own rules. Check aviation.govt.nz before you travel.

Commercial filming on public conservation land, which includes the national parks, needs a concession from the Department of Conservation, so tell us your plans and kit early; see DOC's filming page. At Māori cultural experiences and marae, follow the hosts' protocol, ask before filming and stop when asked. Haka and tā moko are not props.

New Zealand's weather changes plans: the Milford Road can close for avalanche risk, scenic flights are grounded by cloud, Cook Strait sailings stop in high wind and mountain tracks close in storms. We rearrange activities within your agreed trip where we can. We do not cover flight changes or costs caused by disruption, which is one reason travel insurance is mandatory.

We use your application data to assess your application and, if approved, to run your trip. Your passport details and a copy of the photo page are collected with the application, stored encrypted and deleted when they are no longer needed. Your data may be shared with Explera entities outside New Zealand, so the application asks for cross-border transfer consent as its own checkbox. Your privacy rights are set out in the privacy notice.

Yes. Explera runs creator programmes in several countries, and you can apply to each on its own site; all applications are tracked in one creator portal. Trips that combine New Zealand with another country are considered for Signature, Authority and Bespoke creators and are arranged through the group site. Each application is still answered within five business days.

You submit each post in the creator portal with its live URL and screenshots showing the @expleradmc mention and your disclosure. We verify it against the agreement and ask for a fix if something is missing. Creators who deliver well, on time and honestly may be invited back, sometimes with a stronger offer for their next trip.