ITC Industry News Bulletin #21
Air New Zealand dominates headlines this week, reporting strong growth and winning national recognition at the Tourism Industry Awards.
TOP STORIES
According to businessman Mark Lister, the head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners, Air New Zealand is currently faring extremely well, despite increased competition, capacity increases and other challenges.
“There’s a lot of things that have just gone their way, in terms of fuel prices, tourism trends and the domestic economy,” Mr Lister told the New Zealand Herald.
“But they’ve also made some great progress themselves among the things they can control in terms of fine-tuning routes and making sure they’ve got capacity where they need it, improving the fleet and doing what they can about competition.”
Air New Zealand held its AGM in Auckland yesterday afternoon (Wednesday October 7) and is forecasting strong growth over the next 12 months.
Air NZ & DOC partnership wins Tourism Industry Award
Also in the headlines this week is Air New Zealand’s award-winning partnership with the Department of Conservation to promote ‘Great Walks’ throughout the country. The two organisations took away the ‘Industry Alignment Award’ at the Tourism Industry Awards late last week.
The partnership has so far resulted in a 31 per cent increase in the number of people embarking on Great Walks and staying in DOC huts and campsites. Air New Zealand also supports conservation initiatives, such as funding predator control and native species protection programmes.
Manager of Air New Zealand’s Sponsorship and Communities division, Meghan Blair, said the partnership has been “really rewarding and a lot of fun”. Air New Zealand and DOC have extended their agreement until 2020.
IN BRIEF
Top tourism honour for Sir Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Jackson was recognised for his contribution to New Zealand’s tourism sector at the Tourism Industry Awards late last week. He took home the Sir Jack Newman Award for being an ‘outstanding tourism industry leader’. Read more.
Auckland’s record cruise ship season kicks off
Auckland welcomed the first cruise ship of the season, Diamond Princess, into port this morning, marking the beginning of a busy few months, with cruises expected to bring thousands of tourists to the region. Read more.
Jetstar announces new flights to Cook Islands
Jetstar is scheduled to start flying to the Cook Islands in March 2016. Flights will begin in Sydney or Melbourne and travel via Auckland. Read more.
Book now for summer holiday spots
The Holiday Parks Association is reminding people to start locking in their summer holiday accommodation now or risk missing out. Read more.
Stewart Island could become world’s biggest sanctuary
If a proposal to develop a new wildlife sanctuary on Stewart Island goes ahead, this could become the largest of its type in the world. This would involve the removal of all pests and predators from the island and is expected to cost more than $100 million. Read more.
Tourism Holdings Limited buys Waitomo’s Big Apple
The famous ‘Big Apple’ in Waitomo has changed ownership. Tourism Holdings Limited has purchased the café and conference centre on State Highway 3 and intends to develop it into “a really high-class tourist destination”. Read more.
NBR: Checking in on the hotel sector
Those with an interest on how New Zealand’s hotel industry is performing will enjoy this thorough report by the National Business Review. Read more.
Posted in News | Tagged Air New Zealand, cruise ship season, Department of Conservation, Hotel Industry, Jetstar, Sir Peter Jackson, Stewart Island, Tourism Industry Awards | Leave a reply