Originally Posted by taupo

US tourists to NZ are growing in numbers and the NZ Tourism marketing is tilting to the US market as it stays longer and spends more.
The American tourists are looking for experiences, particularly anything to do with wilderness and adventure. The South Island of NZ is prime for that.
Queenstown, served by ZQN as an airport, is the hot destination and must see spot for most of these tourists. Many other great or better places in the SI as well.

This SFO-CHC will sell well with people paying for premium cabins.

If you live in the SI and want to go to NA or points beyond, a direct flight from CHC to SFO thus avoiding a connection in AKL is awesome.