Cake, cake, and more cake!

ITC Head of Group Services Michelle Chatfield and Student Services Advisor Sharon Roy pose with one of ITC’s 20th birthday cakes.

The International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC) is caked out. Earlier this month, we treated all staff and students to a piece of delicious cake to celebrate our 20th birthday – resulting in a mild but totally-worth-it ‘cake hangover’.

“It was cake overload!” says ITC Marketing Director Claire Huxley.

“We ordered a giant cake for the morning and afternoon classes at both campuses. It was wonderful to take some time out of the day to celebrate this special occasion.”

(more…)

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.

TOP STORIES

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.

(more…)

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.

TOP STORIES

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.

(more…)

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.

TOP STORIES

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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.

TOP STORIES

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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).

(more…)

ITC Industry News Bulletin #63

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, Queenstown is named the world’s fourth friendliest city, the ‘Best of New Zealand’ US Roadshow was a hit, and more.

TOP STORIES

Queenstown named the world’s fourth friendliest city

The Conde Nast Traveler magazine has just released its annual list of the world’s friendliest cities, and New Zealand’s own Queenstown has come out in fourth place.

More than 128,000 people voted in this Readers’ Choice Award. Queenstown cracked the top five, while Auckland and Wellington also made it to the top 20, ranking 15th and 17th respectively. The three cities that beat Queenstown were (in order), Charleston in South Carolina in the USA, Sydney in Australia, and Dublin in Ireland.

Last year, Auckland managed to win sixth place, while no other New Zealand cities made the top 20.

Unfortunately for the United States, the entire top 10 of least friendly cities in the world were found there, with New Jersey’s Newark in the unwanted top spot.

(more…)

ITC Industry News Bulletin #62

In this week’s airline, travel, and tourism news, New Zealand ranks as one of the world’s most reputable countries, the CEO of Tourism New Zealand resigns, and more.

TOP STORIES

New Zealand one of the world’s most reputable countries 

‘The most reputable countries 2016’ report has ranked New Zealand in seventh place. The Reputation Institute takes 16 different factors into account when determining the placings, with the help of 48,000 voters.

Out of 55 countries ranked in the report, New Zealand took its spot in the top 10 for factors such as having friendly and welcoming citizens, being a safe place to visit, and having an appealing environment, amongst other things.

This marks the second year running that the country has held seventh place, after moving up from eighth place in 2014.

Sweden took the honour of the number one spot, and was followed by Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Norway, and Finland before New Zealand. Denmark, Ireland and The Netherlands rounded out the top 10.

(more…)