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 #38

In this week’s airline, travel and tourism news, New Zealand is voted ‘Top Country in the World’ by Wanderlust Magazine, Kiwis are flying more than ever, Wellington is set for a huge weekend thanks to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and much more.

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New Zealand wins ‘Top Country in the World’ award voted by British travellers

The people of Britain have spoken: New Zealand is the ‘Top Country in the World’ according to readers of UK travel magazine Wanderlust.

New Zealand was rated the top nation out of 168 countries and scored an overall satisfaction rating of 97 per cent. Nearly 3,000 readers voted as part of the Wanderlust Travel Awards.

Tourism New Zealand General Manager of the Americas and Europe regions, Bjoern Spreitzer, believes this award tops off a great period of growth from the UK market.

“This award isn’t the only good news from the UK as the market is currently growing strongly – in 2015 almost 86,000 visitors chose New Zealand for their holiday, up 11 per cent on the previous year,” Mr Spreitzer said.

“British visitors are valuable to the economy as their average length of stay is more than three weeks and they spend money in most regions around New Zealand,” he added.

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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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