ITC Industry News Bulletin #17
In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news: Queenstown NZ launches a new marketing campaign, Tourism New Zealand reports increased numbers of business visitors, cruise season looks to boom over summer and much, much more.
TOP STORIES
New campaign encourages a ‘sick day-stow away’ to Queenstown
Queenstown NZ has launched a brilliant new tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign designed to convince Australians to ‘pull a sickie’ and visit the city for a long weekend. This video perfectly captures the appeal of Queenstown in a fun and humorous way, which is bound to capture the attention of our friends across the ditch.
The clip is fronted by Australian comedian Dan Ilic, who highlights that the video is meant to be taken as a joke (sickies not condoned!).
“The team at Destination Queenstown felt they might get in trouble if they were to teach the entire Australian workforce how to skip work and escape to the snow,” Dan said. “As a comedian, they thought I might get away with it.”
Well Dan, it looks like you have!
New Zealand attracting more international events than ever before
More and more international delegates are choosing to host conferences in New Zealand, bringing a wealth of visitors to the country and boosting the economy. Tourism New Zealand Director of Trade, PR and Major Events René de Monchy said hosting international conferences has an incredibly positive effect on both a national and regional scale.
“These conferences bring value not just to the host city but the surrounding region with international delegates spending an average of 6.5 nights in the country, 4.5 nights in the event region and 2.1 nights elsewhere in New Zealand,” Mr de Monchy said in a statement released earlier this week.
IN BRIEF
NZ set for record number of cruise ships this summer
The number of cruise ships visiting New Zealand is expected to increase by 25 per cent this summer, when compared to last year’s season. Read more.
Go ahead for $200 million Auckland waterfront hotel
Resource consent for a new luxury Park Hyatt hotel in Auckland was granted this week, with construction expected to get underway in 2016. Read more.
Christchurch Airport profit doubles as services grow
Christchurch Airport has nearly returned to pre-quake capacity, with profit doubling over the past year. Growth is expected to continue thanks to airlines bringing new services to the region. Read more.
Air New Zealand forecasting cooler September fares
Flights for as little as a few dollars are up for grabs this month, thanks to Air New Zealand’s innovative Septemperature campaign. This promotion will base fare prices for certain regions on the 9am temperature, meaning the cooler the weather, the better the deal. Read more.
Qualmark now 100% Tourism New Zealand owned
Tourism New Zealand has acquired AA’s 40% share of Qualmark, the tourism industry’s quality assurance organisation, resulting in 100% ownership. According to Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler, he and his team are focused on continuing with and improving on Qualmark’s success. Read more.
Australian travel agents touch down in New Zealand for largest ‘famil’ to date
400 Australian travel agents arrived in Auckland yesterday (September 9) for a 5-day famil trip. Organised by Tourism New Zealand, Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia, this famil is designed to help the agents become more familiar with the country, so they can sell it more confidently to budding travellers. Read more.
Auckland Airport welcomes Air China’s new daily service
Air China will commence a new daily service between Beijing and Auckland in December this year, a move Auckland Airport welcomes with open arms. “The Air China-Air New Zealand partnership will provide New Zealanders with better access to domestic destinations in China,” says Norris Carter, Auckland Airport’s General Manager – Aeronautical Commercial. Read more.
Christchurch’s largest hotel officially opened by Prime Minister John Key
Prime Minister John Key opened the BreakFree on Cashel in Christchurch last Friday (4 September), on the 5th anniversary of the 2010 earthquakes. With 264 rooms and large conference facilities, this hotel is currently Christchurch’s largest. Read more.
Chinese travellers set to fall in love with New Zealand
Tourism New Zealand continues to work with Chinese celebrity Huang Lei to promote NZ as an excellent tourism destination in China. Promotional material from Huang Lei’s two trips to our country has already generated significant interest on Chinese social media platforms. Read more.
Posted in News | Tagged Air New Zealand, Auckland Airport, China, Christchurch Airport, cruise ship season, Destination Queenstown, Qualmark, Queenstown NZ, Tourism New Zealand |One Response to “ITC Industry News Bulletin #17”
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Lorna says:
Hilarious. Thanks Jess you find some good stuff.
Lorna
Lorna