The Australian Tourism and Transport Forum and the Tourism Industry Association NZ have joined forces to lobby the government for a Trans-Tasman visa.
The visa would allow international travellers a single application process and fee for one passport to visit the two countries.
The groups have written to the Immigration and Tourism Ministers in both countries, requesting the visa be introduced by the end of 2016.
Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmand said the visa was “about growing the pie".
"We're both long-haul destinations," she said.
Related reading
EU to propose visa-free travel for Turks
"Let's invite people down here, give them a joint-visa so they can visit both countries and stay a little longer."
“The reality is that if you are coming halfway around the world to Australia or New Zealand you want to make it worth your while, just as travelling to Europe we visit a multitude of countries on that continent, not just one.”
It is proposed the visa would be similar to the European Schengen zone, which allows largely unrestricted travel among countries.
The single Trans-Tasman visa was introduced last year for three months during the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
“Lots of hurdles get raised about the systems not being compatible but we just keep coming back to the point that it was tried out during the cricket world cup for three months and it worked,” Tourism Industry Association NZ chief executive Chris Roberts said.
It was snapped up by nearly 8000 people with 40 per cent of those visitors were from China, despite the country having no competing team.
Those pushing for a Trans-Tasman visa say they think it will be most popular among Asian tourists.
