ITC Industry News Bulletin #68

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, winter visitor arrivals reach record highs, the Air New Zealand 75 Years exhibition opens in Christchurch, and much more.

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Winter warmed by highest holiday visitors on record

Another week, another tourism record! It’s been a cracker winter for the New Zealand tourism sector. Just under 317,000 international holidaymakers visited in winter – a huge jump from 268,272 in 2015.

One market showed particularly significant growth – American visitors increased by 52 per cent.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler attributes this increase to new flight paths between New Zealand and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hawaii, and Houston.

“The increased flight connectivity means that New Zealand’s natural landscapes, unique visitor experiences, cuisine and world class conference facilities are now more accessible than ever to US citizens,” Mr Bowler said.

Arrivals from Australia, China and the UK are also up.

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Lesley’s Travel Journal: Three weeks in Asia

ITC International Marketing Manager, Lesley Brough, shares some highlights from her three-week business trip to Asia.

Lesley Brough is ITC’s International Marketing Manager. Every few months, she travels overseas to promote the College, meet with agents and potential students, and attend education events. While these trips are for work, she does get to see some pretty amazing places (all in the name of business). Below, she shares some highlights from her recent trip to Asia, where she visited Hong Kong, Macau, China, and Taiwan. 

I had a wonderful time in Asia. I was there for three weeks (my longest trip of the year) and I visited seven cities across four countries. I also used nearly every mode of travel available – plane, boat, bus, train, even push bike!

I met with several agents and they were all warm and welcoming. The weather was extremely warm, so travelling to meetings in corporate clothing was a bit of a challenge! I ended up purchasing a mini fan to keep me cool – a must-have if you visit Asia in summer.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #67

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, visitor records are broken yet again, a gondola is proposed for the top of a major glacier, and much more.

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Gondola proposed for top NZ glacier

The Franz Josef Glacier is one of New Zealand’s top attractions, and a recent proposal to add a gondola to the experience could make it even more popular.

Skyline Enterprises, the company behind the gondolas in central Queenstown and Rotorua, have proposed a new feature gondola that runs alongside and above the Franz Josef Glacier. This would allow visitors a closer, easier, and more affordable look at this incredible location.

At this stage, the glacier is only accessible by helicopter, which minimises the number of people who can visit the site.

The plans will now be discussed by the Department of Conservation and other groups in order to weigh up the pros and cons of such an installation.

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Introducing Irena Wysoczanski

Meet Irena Wysoczanski – ITC’s Academic Support Co-ordinator.

Irena Wysoczanski enjoyed a fantastic career at Air New Zealand, both as a flight attendant and trainer, before joining ITC earlier this year. 

My journey in tourism and travel began many years ago when I joined Air New Zealand as a Flight Attendant in 1974. I flew for 25 years, both with the International and Domestic airlines. I progressed through each ‘rank’ and enjoyed meeting customers in Economy, Business Class and First Class Cabins – they always had interesting stories to share about their lives and travels!

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #66

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, New Zealanders are invited to vote for their favourite travel experience, government funding is now open for tourism initiatives, and more.

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Kiwis given the chance to vote on their favourite tourism experience 

Most tourism awards in New Zealand are voted on by panels or overseas visitors, but now Kiwis will be given a chance to vote on their favourite experiences throughout the country as a new part of the New Zealand Tourism Awards 2016. As a bonus, all voters for the ‘People’s Choice Award’ will go in the draw to win a holiday.

There are 14 finalists around the country that New Zealanders can pick from to place their votes. These include NZSki, Rainbow’s End, Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools, Auckland Seaplanes, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, and more.

TIA chief executive Chris Roberts said that every single one of the finalists offers an “outstanding experience for Kiwis and international visitors alike”.

“The ‘People’s Choice Award’ also highlights the importance of domestic tourism in New Zealand,” he added.

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Five key takeaways from Discussing Tourism Auckland

ITC students Meleane Teu and Alapasita Tupou recently attended the Discussing Tourism Auckland event. Here they are pictured together, and with ITC Managing Director Kerry Priestley.

Last month, two students from the International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC) won tickets to attend Discussing Tourism Auckland, an informative event hosted by Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA). Below, one of the lucky students – Meleane Teu – shares three key things she learned on the day.

It was a great opportunity to be selected to attend this event. We were lucky that our home tutor, Dr Amira, informed us about the event and asked us if we wanted to go. I applied straight away, and not long after I received an email confirming that I had won a ticket.

I learned a lot from the event. We are currently studying a number of the topics discussed in our Diploma in Tourism and Travel Management Level 5.

Here’s five things that stood out the most.

Tourism 2025 strategy

The chief executive of TIA, Chris Roberts, spoke about New Zealand’s tourism strategy for 2025. This is something we have analysed in class, so it was very interesting to hear firsthand from Mr Roberts about what has happened in the two years since the strategy launched. He spoke about how industry is growing and the challenges that New Zealand faces.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #65

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, Rotorua wins a bid to host a major conference in 2020, New Zealand is rated as one of the most welcoming places in the world for expats, and much more.

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Rotorua to host international environmental conference

Rotorua has won its bid to host the 18^th International Congress on Photosynthesis Research in August 2020. The event will bring over 1,300 delegates to the city and contribute an estimated $3 million to the local economy.

The city was chosen over other potential locations in Europe and the USA, with the Rotorua Energy Events Centre’s lakefront location a major drawcard for the conference.

Destination Rotorua’s Craig Murray says that the hosts were also drawn to Rotorua’s reputation as a great conference city.

“Rotorua is a tourist destination in its own right and we presented a range of pre- and post-conference tours around New Zealand. This was another contributing factor in New Zealand’s selection as host nation,” he explained.

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Happy Birthday ITC!

This year, ITC is celebrating its 20th birthday, marking two decades since it first opened its doors in 1996.

What were you doing 20 years ago? Whether you were studying, working, travelling, or even yet to be born, something happened 20 years ago that has since shaped the life of thousands of travel and tourism students: ITC was born.

On 3 September 1996, the International Travel College of New Zealand opened its doors for the first time. This was long before the days of the City Road or Botany campus; the first campus was located on Hobson Street in Auckland city, just around the corner from the Sky Tower (which was built only two years prior, in 1994).

Founded by Karen Houston, ITC quickly earned an excellent reputation for its innovative teaching methods and intimate class sizes. Back then, as now, studying at ITC was like ‘being part of a family’. You don’t just walk away with a qualification; you walk away with lifelong friends and a passion for travel and tourism.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #64

In this week’s New Zealand tourism news, visitor numbers continue to soar, finalists for the New Zealand Tourism Awards have been announced, and much more.

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2016 New Zealand Tourism Awards finalists announced 

The finalists for this year’s New Zealand Tourism Awards have been chosen, with 28 different brands in the running for various honours across eight business categories and two individual categories.

With individuals and groups spanning the nation, and tourism operators varying from thermal pools and ski fields to hotels and theme parks, the awards represent some of the very best of the country’s offerings. Plus, the awards align with New Zealand’s goal of reaching a $41 billion tourism revenue target by 2025.

Finalists can look forward to September 29 when the winners will be announced during a dinner and ceremony in Auckland.

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Introducing Nicola Turner

Please give a warm welcome to Nicola Turner, the new course advisor at ITC’s South Auckland Campus.

Nicola Turner recently joined ITC’s South Auckland campus as a part-time Course Advisor. Below she tells us a little bit about herself and her travels to-date. 

My career in the travel and tourism industry started straight from school where I got a job working in a travel agency. I worked my way up from a junior consultant selling bus tickets around New Zealand, to a senior consultant selling holidays around the world, before I decided to head off on my own big O.E (overseas experience).

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