The best of 2015

From the Amazing Race to Graduation and everything in between, it’s been a great year at ITC.

As another year comes to an end, we thought we’d take this opportunity to look back at some highlights from the past 12 months.

2015 has been an incredible year for the industry, and at ITC we’ve had many excited, motivated students pass through these halls, ready to embark on a fantastic career in airline, travel or tourism.

With so many students achieving amazing goals – from moving to Disney World or securing their dream job – it was hard to narrow down our top ten stories of the year. But after much consideration, we think the following stories deserve one last mention before we look ahead to 2016.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #31

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, luxury tourism spend is on the rise and Air New Zealand launches a new initiative to benefit school children.

TOP STORIES

NZ Luxury Lodge data confirms strong sector growth

According to new data from members of Luxury Lodges of New Zealand, spending on luxury accommodation increased between April and September of this year.

Director of Trade, PR and Major Events at Tourism New Zealand, Rene de Monchy, said it was great to see the luxury sector was performing well.

“Seeing such strong growth in the industry over winter is absolutely fantastic and proof that the sector is progressing as strongly as we thought,” Mr de Monchy said.

He added that targeting luxury travellers has been a key focus for Tourism New Zealand this year.

“The results follow significant work from our premium sector team… Since 1 July the premium team have attended six major international trade events, hosted six famils and four media files in New Zealand, and we have a full calendar of activity planned for the coming six months.”

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ITC donates $5,000 to Auckland City Mission

Auckland City Mission Fundraising Team Leader Alexis Sawyers is pictured with ITC Directors Claire Huxley and Kerry Priestley. ITC generously donated $5,000 to the Mission’s 2015 Christmas Appeal.

The International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC) is lending a hand to those in need this festive season.

Instead of enjoying a large staff Christmas party, employees at the college voted to donate $5,000 to the Auckland City Mission – a generous show of support for deserving families in the local community.

“We asked the ITC team if they would prefer to have a big Christmas do or if they wanted to donate the money we’d usually spend to charity and have a smaller celebration,” says ITC Marketing Director Claire Huxley.

“We’re proud to say 98 per cent of the team voted for a smaller Christmas party, which allowed us to make a sizeable donation to the Auckland City Mission.”

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #30

Welcome to the 30th edition of the ITC Industry News Bulletin! In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, NZ’s top 10 Instagrammed locations are named, a new report shines a light on the current state of the industry and much more.

TOP STORIES

New Zealand’s ten most Instagrammed locations revealed

Waiheke Island is New Zealand’s ‘most Instagrammed’ location, it was revealed earlier this week. The popular holiday destination secured the top spot ahead of several other beautiful places – see the full list below.

1. Waiheke Island
2. Mount Maunganui
3. Hobbiton Movie Set
4. Sky Tower
5. Takapuna Beach
6. Lake Tekapo
7. Piha Beach
8. Wanaka Lakefront
9. Museum of Te Papa Tongarewa
10. Skyline Queenstown

The list was compiled based on how many pictures were geo-tagged in each location.

Director of marketing at Tourism New Zealand, Andrew Fraser, told The Bay of Plenty Times that there has been an increase of activity on Instagram recently.

“We can see through the growth of the @PureNewZealand Instagram account and the popularity of the #NZMustDo campaign that both visitors and New Zealanders alike are turning to Instagram to share their New Zealand experiences,” Mr Fraser said.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #29

This week’s top news stories from the airline, travel and tourism industry.

TOP STORIES

Air New Zealand named Airline of the Year for third year running

New Zealand’s national airline has once again been recognised for world-class excellence. Air New Zealand has been named Airline of the Year by AirlineRatings.com for the third year in a row.

AirlineRatings.com is a website which rates and reviews aviation products and safety systems. Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas believes Air New Zealand’s commitment to its staff is one reason why the airline continues to outperform competitors.

“Air New Zealand’s focus on its staff has resulted in outstanding performance right across the airline at every touch point and the airline’s innovation continues to impress, including the recently launched tracking of unaccompanied children,” says Mr Thomas.

“Given Air New Zealand’s location and the country size, its performance is stunning,” he added.

Over 430 airlines were rated by AirlineRatings.com as part of the judging process.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #28

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, a Tourism New Zealand marketing campaign is performing exceptionally well, Air New Zealand’s 7th anniversary exhibition comes to Auckland and more.

TOP STORIES

New campaign ad rating higher than 100% Middle-earth

A new Tourism New Zealand marketing campaign, ‘Every Day a Different Journey’, is performing exceptionally well. Launched in July, the campaign’s TVC is currently rating higher than previous middle-earth ads in Australia, China, USA, UK, Germany and Japan.

According to an evaluation undertaken in October, the ad is rating at an average of 77 per cent, whereas middle-earth ads rated an average of 64 per cent.

Director of Marketing at Tourism New Zealand, Andrew Fraser, said it was a “massive challenge” to follow the success of the middle-earth campaign, so he’s pleased to see the new approach is working.

“These results show that our idea of presenting a visit to New Zealand as a series of interlinking, spectacular experiences within relatively easy reach is an absolute winner. It’s great news,” Mr Fraser said.

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‘I’m over the moon’: ITC graduate secures dream job

Tony Moses is ‘over the moon’ about the education he received from ITC. Tony studied the Level 3 Certificate in Tourism with a Strand in Aviation and recently started a new job with Menzies Aviation.

A graduate from the International Travel College of New Zealand (ITC) has landed a great job with Menzies Aviation at Auckland Airport – and he believes this is largely thanks to the support and encouragement of his tutors.

“I’m over the moon with how much time and support the tutors gave me and my classmates,” says Tony Moses, who recently completed the Level 3 New Zealand Certificate in Tourism with a Strand in Aviation at ITC’s South Auckland Campus.

“They give so much of their own time and advice, and help students with whatever career direction they want to go in. I’m honoured to be known as an ITC graduate,” he added.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #27

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, Air New Zealand announces new flights to Vietnam and New Zealand could be on the road to securing the title of ‘World’s Best Country’ for the fourth year in a row.

TOP STORIES

Air New Zealand to fly direct to Vietnam

In case you missed the exciting announcement late last week, Air New Zealand is set to start flying direct to Vietnam. The airline is launching a seasonal service between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh City from June to October next year. Flying three days a week, the flight time will be approximately 11 hours.

Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon says the new service “provides the ideal gateway” for Kiwis to experience Vietnam’s myriad attractions.

“Vietnam is an increasingly popular leisure destination with the number of Kiwis visiting the country up about 20 percent in the past year,” Mr Luxon said in a statement.

“It’s a holiday spot that has huge appeal and we’re confident that by offering a direct service even more Kiwis will be keen to explore it.”

Mr Luxon added that the direct flight will also make it easier for Vietnamese travellers to visit New Zealand.

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ITC short courses inspire secondary school students to study tourism at tertiary level

A group of secondary school students learn about NZ’s exciting tourism industry thanks to an interactive ITC short course.

The International Travel College of New Zealand’s passion for the tourism industry has inspired a cohort of secondary school students to pursue this exciting career choice.

Every year, the ITC short course team educates hundreds of 15, 16 and 17 year olds about New Zealand’s airline, travel and tourism industry, through interactive lessons, practical activities and industry visits.

The aim of these short courses is to show students what it’s really like to work in tourism, so they have plenty of information when it comes to making a decision about what to study when they leave school.

While some go on to pursue other passions, many short course students ‘catch the tourism bug’ and decide to study the subject at tertiary level. This is a great win for the tourism industry, which is currently in a high-growth phase in New Zealand and in need of skilled, motivated workers.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #26

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, Qantas and American Airlines announce a new daily service between Auckland and LA, accommodation providers enjoy another record-breaking month and more.

TOP STORIES

New American air service brings economic benefits

Qantas and American Airlines have announced a new daily route between Los Angeles and Auckland, with regional New Zealand connections via Jetstar. Chief executive of the Tourism Industry Association Chris Roberts says this new service is yet another step in the right direction towards NZ’s Tourism 2025 goals.

“The US is our third biggest visitor market and they enjoy what we have to offer. Tourism operators around the country will be keen to support this new service with activities and experiences that appeal to North American visitors,” says Mr Roberts.

“It’s fantastic to see airlines responding to the strong demand out of North America to visit New Zealand by increasing the supply.”

The new service is planned to commence in June 2016.

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