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.

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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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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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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.

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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.

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A day in the life of Tessa Henwood – ITC’s Head of Academic Services

Head of Academic Services Tessa Henwood with ITC Managing Director Kerry Priestley at the 2015 Graduation Ceremony.

Known for her warm sense of humour, impeccable organisational skills, and infectious enthusiasm, Tessa Henwood is ITC’s Head of Academic Services. So what exactly does she do? Below she chats to Jess about her ‘not-so-typical typical day’ at work and shares some time management tips and tricks.

Describe your typical day

[Laughs]. I’m laughing because I don’t think I have a typical day! Every day is so random and different it’s crazy. Today, for example, I’ve got a half-eaten apple on my desk and a very cold coffee, because every time I go to do something there’s a student or tutor at my door. I love it though – and fortunately I actually quite like cold coffee. I’ve even been known to put ice cubes in it!

But there are some consistencies. I usually get into work at around 6:30am. Partly because I’m an early riser, and partly because I like to get in before everyone else. Generally that means I open the college, unlock all the classrooms and turn on all the lights. Then I get a coffee, turn on my computer, and check my emails. After that I check my calendar to see what I’ve got on in terms of meetings, and I use my calendar to plan my workload. I also have a written to-do list in my book. I would be lost without my to-do list!

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #61

In this week’s tourism news, Tourism New Zealand aims to attract more visitors in the off-season, visitor numbers to Gisborne may be even higher than expected, and more.

TOP STORIES

Off-peak arrivals remain a target for Tourism NZ

Last year, Tourism New Zealand focused on attracting tourists during off-peak seasons between summer and winter. The organisation has announced that they are continuing this campaign.

The move is strategic on many levels, namely that it benefits all involved parties. For example, tourists benefit due to fewer crowds at popular attractions, vendors benefit from more stable incomes, and Kiwis enjoy a stronger economy for the greater revenues brought in by visitors.

With events, conferences, special-interest travel, and other strategies, Tourism NZ has improved international holiday visitor arrivals by 18.4 per cent for spring 2015 and autumn 2016. The group is also confident that they can continue to grow these numbers with further promotion and investment.

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Want to study for free at ITC?

ITC is now accepting applications for its 2017 scholarships.

Applications for the 2017 ITC Scholarships are now open! You can now apply to receive funding for your studies at ITC in 2017.

All you need to do is ‘Tell Us Your Story’. Send us a letter, blog post, video, comic strip – anything that gives us an insight into who you are, why you’re passionate about travel and tourism, and why you want to study at ITC. You can find all the application guidelines, as well as entries from previous winners, right here.

Why apply?

You may be wondering – “Am I good enough?”, “Is it worth the effort?”, “What’s the point?”

Every year, we are blown away by the amazing scholarship entries we receive. And although we can’t award a scholarship to everyone, we promise you: every single entry is worth the effort. We love learning about your unique stories.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #60

In this week’s industry news, Tourism New Zealand takes out a top PR award, June visitor arrivals are strong, Air New Zealand launches a new safety video, and more.

TOP TOURISM STORIES

June arrival numbers show great start to winter season

The June visitor arrival numbers have just been released, and they’re showing a strong start to the winter season with an increase of 16.1 per cent for the year ending June.

Tourism New Zealand is celebrating this news as it follows the biggest summer for arrivals ever, as well as bumper shoulder seasons through spring and autumn.

To put the 16.1 per cent increase into perspective, Tourism New Zealand general manager for corporate affairs Deborah Gray explained just how many extra visitors that meant and how much they each spend on average.

“Putting this into actual numbers we welcomed 15,000 additional holiday visitors to the country in June which, at a current average spend of $3,500 per visitor equates to an incremental $53 million for the New Zealand economy in June.”

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Highlights from Global Wednesday 2016

Global Wednesday 2016 was a day full of fun, food, and friendship.

Every year the International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC) celebrates cultural diversity with a fun student event called ‘Global Wednesday’.

Students are put into groups, and each group is assigned a different country from around the world. They are then tasked with teaching their fellow students about this culture through preparing traditional meals, wearing authentic costumes, and delivering presentations.

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