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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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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.

TOP STORIES

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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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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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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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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ITC Industry News Bulletin #59

In New Zealand tourism news this week, Rotorua looks set to meet its tourism targets, and India may be the next big market for international visitors.

TOP STORIES

Rotorua on track to meet tourism targets

Tourism Industry Aotearoa recently released a Local Government Manifesto calling on communities around the country to make the most of the endless tourism opportunities currently arising in New Zealand.

According to the Rotorua Lakes Council, the Rotorua district is on the right track. The region hosts major events such as the mountain biking mecca Crankworx and the Rotorua Half Ironman, as well as offering a number of natural attractions.

Jean-Paul Gaston, strategy and partnerships group manager for the council, said that investment in the industry was ongoing.

“Tourism is at the forefront of our thinking when it comes to future planning, economic strategies, improvements and new developments, events, assets and the planning and/or improvement of infrastructure,” he explained.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #58

In this week’s news, Tourism New Zealand’s annual trade event in India is a hit, travel spending is soaring throughout the country, and much more.

TOP STORIES

Kiwi Link India strengthens tourism relations in Mumbai 

Kiwi Link India, an annual trade event organised by Tourism New Zealand, has just taken place in Mumbai (July 11-13). The purpose of the event is to create and strengthen tourism relationships between trade operators in New Zealand and overseas travel agents, planners and product managers.

Over 30 New Zealand tourism operators attended the event, and met with 80 Indian delegates over the weekend.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive, Kevin Bowler, explains why events such as this are so important.

“Having a well-informed travel trade is critical to converting interest into bookings. This event provides an ideal platform for us to strengthen relations with our stakeholders in the Indian travel trade, supporting their ability to sell travel to New Zealand, particularly during the shoulder seasons.”

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