Opposite page from left : Aussie event planners among the first to enjoy the new route between Wellington , Canberra and Singapore ; Bridge climb in Auckland ; construction of the NZICC is in full swing .
“ We were in Canberra in May attending the AuSAE 2016 Conference & Exhibition and were pleased at how positive the associations that we spoke to are about the opportunity the new route presents , given many of their New Zealand counterparts are Wellington based ,” she says . “ We received several good leads off the back of this with potential conference business for Wellington in the future , and several more have come through since .”
Opportunity to tap into the international association market is also set for a boost with New Zealand signing up as a new International Congress and Convention Association ( ICCA ) Association Relations Partner , along with Thailand and Monaco .
The newly launched Association Relations Partnership is a collaborative programme designed to help ICCA strengthen its relationship with international associations , including hosting some of their top executives and meeting directors at the annual ICCA Congress .
“ Tourism New Zealand is seeing significant growth in businesses choosing our country as a destination and this new opportunity will help us to continue to build on that growth ,” says Gardiner .
“ We look forward to working even more closely with ICCA and their global community over the coming months .”
However , Australia remains the key market for New Zealand .
“ We are seeing significant opportunity from the Australian market who are now considering New Zealand amongst their domestic destinations ,” she says . “ Holding an event in New Zealand can be as cost effective as other locations in Australia .”
International arrivals to New Zealand are forecast to reach 4.5 million in 2022 – up 45 per cent from 2015 . However , success doesn ’ t come without its challenges though .
“ This level of growth is fantastic but it ’ s extremely important that it is supported to ensure it is sustainable ,” she says .
“ That is something Tourism New Zealand along with a range of other agencies are working on because we know there are impacts of the increased numbers . Tourism New Zealand , the government and industry have a shared commitment to encouraging tourists away from the hotspots and into other regions to spread their money across the country . Our work to encourage off peak visits has led to stronger arrival growth over the shoulder season than in the peak season .
“ Tourism New Zealand has a significant role in supporting the Government ’ s tourism strategy . We invest 100 per cent of our marketing dollar into attracting visitors in the shoulder seasons . As a result , the combined percentage growth for autumn 2015 and spring 2016 was higher than the summer .”
Auckland attracts the lion ’ s share of business events ( 37 per cent ), with 1.5 million delegates attending more than 14,000 events last year . Anna Hayward , manager at the Auckland Convention Bureau , says the Auckland visitor economy is booming , with international visitor arrivals up 33.8 per cent from 1.7 million to 2.4 million since 2011 .
“ There ’ s been good growth in all of the key markets and Australia remains Auckland ’ s largest market , attracting more than 800,000 visitors a year , up almost 5 per cent on previous years . Of the total business event arrivals into Auckland , 66 per cent are from Australia ,” she says .
“ We ’ re looking forward to building on this good momentum in 2017 , and building on Auckland ’ s position as holding the largest share of the business events market .
“ In the financial year to date , Auckland
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