It's NZ's new tourism drive: 10 per cent raw

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A Marlborough  woman wants Europe to know the naked truth: New Zealand is a great place to take your clothes off.

Kay Hannam is heading for the Netherlands to sell New Zealand as a destination for people who prefer holidaying in the raw.

Ms Hannam - who runs Wai-natur, a combined bed and breakfast, camping ground and caravan park in the Wairau Valley - will be the sole Kiwi representative among 1500 mostly fully clothed exhibitors from 150 countries at a tourism and travel show in Utrecht from January 8 to 13.

Ms Hannam said 140,000 visitors were expected at the Vakantiebeurs show.

She said Utrecht was an ideal location to promote New Zea-land as a holiday destination for naturists.

"Dutch people feel comfortable with nudity. They don't have the hang-ups we do."

Ms Hannam said many naturist friends from Europe had been to New Zealand without realising the country offered facilities that catered for them.

Usually more comfortable without clothes, Ms Hannam will be packing some before she leaves New Zealand on January 3.

"It's pretty cold in Utrecht, so I'll be taking a woolly hat and an Icebreaker.

"But in past years some of the people in the show pavilions have been naked."

Marlborough Chamber of Commerce chief executive Tim Leslie said Ms Hannam's trip could have positive spinoffs for the region.

"Naturism seems to be a growing niche in the tourism sector. Anything that brings in foreign exchange must be good."