Released at the Tourism Conference 2014 was the new guide on “how to work with a New Zealand Inbound Tour Operator”.

The “Planning for Inbound Success” manual is designed to provide operators with the basic tools, knowledge and key contacts needed to enter the export tourism market including: 

• Understand the travel distribution system
• Research international markets to establish who will use your products
• Recognise the different styles of inbound travellers
• Information on pricing your product and working with international trade
• Key contacts and links for better access to tourism data and research

TECNZ members will receive a hard copy and ‘e-versions’ of the Manual will be available via their password protected area of their website listing. If they would like to receive additional hard copies, there will be a small fee of $10 per copy + postage.

Other industry operators will be able to purchase the Manual in either hard or e-copy form with the price still to be determined. Click here to see “Planning for Inbound Success – Contents page” of the Manual.

For more information please email: info@tourismexportcouncil.org.nz

INAUGURAL YOUNG TEC EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER!

The Tourism Export Council of New Zealand announced today at the national tourism conference awards event held at the Claudelands Event Centre, the winner of the inaugural Young TEC Excellence award with Dylan Rushbrook, Director of International Sales SKYCITY Hotels as the first recipient. 

As the winner he receives a sponsored prize of:

• Two week professional development placement in one of Tourism New Zealand’s international offices
•  Return economy flights sponsored by Air New Zealand
•  Accommodation at an Accor Hotel Property
• $1,000 spending money from Tourism Export Council for overseas expenses

The award recognises the outstanding efforts and contribution to the development of New Zealand’s tourism industry by a Young TEC member under the age of 36 years and their company is a Tourism Export Council member. Applicants had to, in a written submission outline their key achievements to date, how the achievements contributed to the growth of their company, what their personal professional ambition was and share their vision of the tourism industry in 10-15 years’ time. The written submissions were scored by four judges to select three finalists.

The finalists who were Dylan Rushbrook – SKYCITY Hotels, Judy Chen – Grand Chancellor Hotels and Loren Heaphy of Nelson Tasman Tourism had to attend an interview with the judges who then selected the winner based on their responses to key questions and leadership potential.

President Martin Horgan of the Tourism Export Council and Head Judge is enthused and says “the judges were impressed with the calibre of the finalists and all three have contributed in meaningful and measureable ways to their businesses. The award and prize is an amazing opportunity for our young people to plan for a long career in tourism and demonstrates the Tourism Export Councils commitment to succession planning and professional development of our future tourism leaders. We are very grateful to our sponsors Air New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand and Accor Hotels who didn’t hesitate when approached to support this award.”

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says it’s fantastic to see the industry identify and support the people who will shape its future. “Through programmes like Young TEC and this new award, the industry is really embracing the new ideas and fresh perspective that comes from the younger generation of tourism professionals.

 “Acknowledging success and providing ongoing professional development are core parts of Tourism New Zealand’s culture so we are pleased to be able to offer our support to the Young TEC Excellence Award”.

The judges were: Martin Horgan – Tourism Export Council; Deborah Gray – Tourism New Zealand; Jenny Simpson – Air New Zealand and John Farrell – Accor Hotels.

Top tour operators recognised by industry

Two of New Zealand’s top operators have been recognised as the best in the business by their industry peers at an awards dinner held at the Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton at the annual Tourism Conference.

Pacific Destinationz was named as the Inbound Tour Operator of the Year, while local Waikato operator Hobbiton Movie Set Tours received the Operator of the Year Award 2014.

Pacific Destinationz – “Inbound Tour Operator of the Year” 2014

For the third year running, allied members of the Tourism Export Council have voted Pacific Destinationz their number one inbound tour operator. In recognition of being a third time winner, Pacific Destinationz was also presented with a “Distinction Triple Winner Award”. The team at Pacific Destinationz are truly honoured and humble in accepting the awards. Managing Director Mark Badland says “to be awarded the prestigious Inbound Tour Operator of the Year in 2012, 2103 and now 2014 is not only an overwhelming experience, but one that inspires us to continue to strive for excellence, and continues to motivate in an industry that we are passionate for. With a stable committed team with multiple language skills, the company fully realises this award is true recognition of the outstanding work of the PDNZ family”.

Pacific Destinationz Limited is a wholly New Zealand owned company operating as a wholesale inbound tour company in New Zealand and Fiji. Pacific Destinationz continues to offer a full range of product to developing markets such as Southern Europe and South America and following recent acquisitions is fast establishing themselves in other traditional markets. They constantly review and improve their approach to technology and are committed to maintaining their position at the forefront of an ever-evolving global travel industry.

Hobbiton Movie Set Tours – “Tour Operator of the Year” 2014

Hobbiton Movie Set Tours was absolutely stoked to be nominated for a second year in the Operator of Year category. They are humbled and believe their nominator best summed up the reason for their nomination.

“Hobbiton embodies what TECNZ wants in an Operator of the Year! For inbound members they work well with wholesale, travel offshore to market and continually improve, invest and upgrade their product. Hobbiton is a world class product who understands and appreciates how distribution works”.

Hobbiton Movie Set Tours based in Matamata Waikato, is a family owned sheep and beef farm which has grown into a major tourist icon business, operating since the Lord of the Rings Trilogy released in 1999. The set was rebuilt in 2011 for The Hobbit films and continues to grow visitor numbers year on end. Owner Russell Alexander says “thank you to our inbound partners and TECNZ for recognising Hobbiton as the Operator of the Year. Our main focus has been working with trade and the one item I love paying is commission – we value our relationships with those who can promote and sell us offshore and look forward to working together in which should be a very exciting year!”

Hamilton Gardens is unlike anywhere else in the world; a living museum that tells a story of cultures and civilisation through 18 stunning, themed gardens.

Step back 4,000 years into Ancient Egypt, follow te ara whakataukii (the path of proverbs) to the world’s only traditional productive Maaori garden, and lose yourself in the dreamlike Surrealist Garden where nothing is as it seems.

Join one of our friendly, knowledgeable guides on a 75-minute Highlights Tour to travel through these iconic gardens on a journey of unexpected stories, hidden symbols, interesting snippets, and fascinating insights. Or plot your own path and let the gardens speak to you with our engaging audio guide. Both are available in English or Mandarin Chinese.

If you’re someone with ATTITUDE come to the Tourism Conference 26/27 August and hear from Justin Herald who down to his last $50 in his pocket, but alot of attitude, turned a simple t-shirt into a multi million dollar company.

A warm welcome to our new members! We look forward to helping you learn more about tourism trade and the growing your business!

WHITE ISLAND TOURS     Key contact: Patrick O’Sullivan    email: marketing@whiteisland.co.nz
JLT INSURANCE                 Key contact: Deb Fisher               email: deb.fisher@jlt.co.nz
STAYWELL GROUP            Key contact: Melanie Ranoa       email: mranoa@staywellgroup.co.nz
MOTEL ASSN NZ                Key contact: Michael Baines       email: michael@manz.co.nz
KOHUTAPU LODGE           Key contact: Nadine Toetoe         email: bookings@kohutapulodge.co.nz
HIKE BIKE AKO                   Key contact: Robyn Manuel          email: robyn@hikebikeako.co.nz
ECOZIP ADVENTURES      Key contact: Gavin Oliver              email: gavin@ecozip.co.nz

EcoZip Adventures are the operators of a zipline (or flying-fox) adventure tourism enterprise on Waiheke Island.  Three dual ziplines, each over 200m in length, fly visitors first over our working vineyard and then above a beautiful canopy of centuries-old native New Zealand forest.

Hi folks – last year at the 2013 Tourism Conference, Chris Flynn from PATA did an excellent presentation on Russia and Brazil.  Here is the presentation. Chris Flynn, PATA & Russia ppt

Culturally owned and operated!

A lake edge lodge offering overnight accommodation off the beaten track in a beautiful unspoilt corner of New Zealand. Guided cultural tours, traditional food (hangi and indigenous gourmet BBQ) along with a number of other activities, including: hunting and fishing, waka paddling, night time eeling, cooking classes, weaving, boat and kayak hire. School marae visits into our community can also be arranged.

(Auckland, New Zealand) Tourism Radio (http://www.tourismradio.co.nz) is fully committed to ensuring self-drive visitors to New Zealand get the best safety information available, as soon as they get behind the wheel. The company made the statement following reports in recent weeks about a number of road accidents involving foreign drivers.

Tourism Radio CEO Hayden Braddock says the travel guide producer has already proven itself well suited to the task at hand, “We’ve worked closely with the New Zealand Transport Agency to send out various road safety messages to our users, and from the feedback we’ve received, more than 90% of those users found these messages useful.”

“After a long flight across multiple time zones,” says Braddock, “foreign drivers will understandably be fatigued when getting into a vehicle. That’s where Tourism Radio comes in; our partnerships with key players in the motorhome and car rental industry position us as the ‘first line of defence’; providing users with vital safety information as they are driving.”

Tourism Radio distributes bespoke in-car audio tour guide devices to motorhome and car rental clients across New Zealand, and the company has also developed a range of audio travel guide apps for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone. The uniqueness of the company’s guide technology is in its ability to seamlessly arrange thousands of audio clips into a contextually-relevant dialogue, providing an intuitive safety information system to a captive audience when it matters most.

Braddock maintains there’s no better way to get the safety message across, “When a user approaches a busy highway intersection, for example, our technology knows where the user is, and knows in which direction they are travelling. We are therefore able to warn them to give way to oncoming traffic well ahead of the intersection itself, alerting them to slow down and be aware of their surroundings.”

For more information about Tourism Radio’s existing road safety efforts, visit their websites: http://www.travelguideapps.co.nz and http://www.tourismradio.co.nz, or contact them on +64 9 475 6537.