ITC Industry News Bulletin #45

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, Air New Zealand announces new flights between Auckland and Manila, Canada looks to New Zealand for advice about race relations, and much more.

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Air New Zealand launches Philippines service

Air New Zealand is expanding its Pacific Rim network with flights between Manila and Auckland set to start in December 2016.

Chief executive Christopher Luxon believes there will be steady demand for this service, especially given how much New Zealand’s Filipino population has grown.

“The number of visitors from the Philippines is also continuing to grow rapidly, up more than 20 per cent in the past year alone so we’re anticipating that demand for this service will be steady in both directions,” Mr Luxon said.

Once the new flight goes ahead, Air New Zealand will be flying to a total of over 32 international destinations.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #44

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, the South Island credits Instagram with attracting more visitors to its shores in 2015, several tourism operators challenge Easter trading laws and much more.

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New Zealand’s South Island Sees Tourism Boom Thanks to Instagram Photos Like These

The South Island reported record visitor growth in 2015, far exceeding the North Island – and many tourism leaders believe this could be thanks to Instagram.

Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager James Helmore told stuff.co.nz that they invested a lot of time into boosting Wanaka’s Instagram presence last year.

“We’ve done everything from Insta-meets, when you get a whole lot of people coming together to take photos to put on Instagram, to hosting influencers from around the world,” says James.

The link between Instagram and the South Island’s tourism growth caught the attention of international media, with Conde Nast Traveller covering the story. Click the ‘read more’ button below to read Conde Nast’s full coverage and see some of 2015’s most beautiful South Island Instagram pics.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #42

In this week’s NZ airline, travel and tourism news, the TIA highlights the importance of protected marine areas to NZ tourism, Air New Zealand explores biofuel options and much more.

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Opportunity for marine tourism to benefit NZ

The Tourism Industry Association (TIA) is highlighting the potential benefits ‘marine tourism’ could bring to New Zealand.

In a submission to the Ministry for the Environment, the TIA is calling for the government to consider tourism when making decisions about marine protected areas.

“Tourism operators such as whale watch operators, seal swimming operators, diving and snorkelling operators, kayak operators and recreational fishing charters have strong links and interests in marine protected areas,” says TIA chief executive Chris Roberts.

Mr Roberts added that new marine protected areas could “support the tourism industry’s Tourism 2025 goal of growing total annual tourism revenue to $41 billion over the next decade”.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #41

In this week’s NZ airline, travel and tourism news, the countdown until TRENZ 2016 is on, a leading property expert calls for more hotels to be developed and much more.

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International travel buyers flock to TRENZ 2016

TRENZ 2016 is set to welcome the highest number of international travel buyers since 2007: a total of 356 from nearly 30 different markets. Interest in this conference – which will be held in Rotorua between May 10 and 13 – is soaring.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said this is “excellent news for the industry” and that TRENZ is a highlight of NZ tourism’s calendar.

“With 300 operators from New Zealand coming face to face with international buyers, showcasing the best that New Zealand can offer, TRENZ is the pinnacle event of the year for the travel trade,” Mr Bowler added.

“I am really looking forward to attending TRENZ again for what’s shaping up to be a highly successful four days for buyers and the industry alike.”

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #39

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, Auckland Airport chief executive is confident about the future of NZ tourism, Air New Zealand reports profit increases and more.

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Auckland Airport boss confident NZ can sustain tourism growth

The chief executive of Auckland Airport, Andrew Littlewood, is full of optimism about the future of New Zealand tourism. He believes with the right approach, the country can achieve further growth – providing the country finds a way to adapt to the increasing number of visitors.

“There are plenty of opportunities for this country but we will have to be receptive,” Mr Littlewood said.

He compared New Zealand’s tourism industry to that of Ireland, a country similar in size but which welcomes a lot more visitors each year.

“Ireland, which is also a small country with 4.5 million people, has 8.6 million visitors a year and I don’t think the people of Ireland think those visitors are taking over the country,” he said.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #35

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, Air New Zealand launches a new recruitment campaign for flight attendants, the TIA chief executive shares his thoughts on the industry and much more.

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Air New Zealand’s new campaign calls for Kiwis who aspire to fly

Air New Zealand is on the lookout for new flight attendants to join its team. The airline recently launched a new recruitment video, highlighting the benefits of being a flight attendant – as told by real Air New Zealand staff.

The video is a great insight into the life of cabin crew and will no doubt inspire many aviation students to apply.

Air New Zealand’s general manager of cabin crew, Leeanne Langridge, reveals what the airline looks for in its candidates.

“We never stop pushing ourselves to find passionate, proud and dedicated flight attendants who represent our brand values, and go beyond to make a difference in our customers’ journey,” Ms Langridge said.

You can keep up-to-date with Air New Zealand’s new campaign by following the hashtag #AspireToFly on social media.

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ITC Industry News Bulletin #34

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, Tourism New Zealand celebrates a huge social media milestone, Air New Zealand impresses its customers with great coffee and much more.

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TNZ exceeds staggering 2.25 million social media fans!

Tourism New Zealand is doing an amazing job of marketing our beautiful country on social media. The organisation has just surpassed 2.25 million fans, with 2 million ‘likes’ on Facebook and 253,000 followers on Instagram.

“To put it into context, our 2 million Facebook followers put us in the top 10 NZ Facebook pages – right up there with the All Blacks!” said director of marketing Andrew Fraser.

Mr Fraser said Tourism New Zealand is leveraging these channels to market NZ as a great destination to both prospective travellers and those currently visiting.

“The beauty of social media is that it enables us to engage with individuals at different stages of the holiday cycle, be it during planning or while they are here, and tailor our activity to fit with their changing requirements,” he said.

He added that he’s looking forward to seeing the organisation’s social media presence expand even further in 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.

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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 Industry News Bulletin #29

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

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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.

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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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