Latest news with #CarrieHurihanganui
Scoop
17-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
AKL Lands In Top 10 In Kantar's Corporate Reputation Index
Infrastructure improvements and strong collaboration between AKL and border agencies delivering great results for travellers Smoother arrivals for international passengers with median processing times now 17% faster than 2019 (March 2025 vs. March 2019) Quicker domestic departures with a 40% improvement year on year in median processing times (March 2025 vs March 2024) Auckland Airport has been recognised as one of New Zealand's most trusted companies, earning a spot among the top performers in the 2025 Kantar Corporate Reputation Index, coming in at #9, its highest ever ranking. The annual index measures the public perception of New Zealand's top 50 corporates across trust, leadership, fairness and responsibility, with Auckland Airport moving forward 42 places over the past year. Auckland Airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui said the result highlighted the teamwork and collaboration that's taken place across the airport precinct to uplift the customer experience. 'Auckland Airport is a bit like a small city that relies on an ecosystem of partners working together to deliver a safe and enjoyable experience for travellers. 'The team at Auckland Airport will be delighted by this result, and we also share this recognition with the wider airport community, our 26 airline customers and our border agency partners: Aviation Security, Biosecurity New Zealand, Customs, Immigration New Zealand,' she said. Auckland Airport is currently underway with its most significant infrastructure programme in decades, adding resilience to the country's gateway airport, improving the customer experience and supporting New Zealand's growth ambitions. The Kantar index found AKL scored highly on trust and leadership – the biggest drivers of reputation - along with making strong gains in the responsibility and fairness ratings. Ms Hurihanganui said the result provided confidence that Auckland Airport was on the right track with its infrastructure programme. 'Infrastructure isn't easy and there will always be differing opinions, but we've worked hard to proactively tell our story. It's great to know we have the trust and support of the communities we serve as we build for New Zealand's future growth and prosperity. 'Auckland Airport is going to be wonderfully transformed in the years ahead and I think customers are already starting to feel the difference. We've opened a new Transport Hub, created a new entrance to the international terminal, built better roads and added technology innovations, new wayfinding and improved bathrooms. 'We've also had a big focus on working with our partners to remove the pain points for customers we know they care about. Through operational improvements, collaboration and technology innovation, we've maintained the same high standards of security, but queues are shorter and processing times are much faster, particularly in domestic departures and international arrivals,' she said. For arriving international passengers at Auckland Airport, it's now taking around 16 minutes from entering passport control/Customs to exiting into the airport's public arrivals hall – a 17% improvement on the median processing time in 2019 (March 2019 to March 2025). A significant change came in November 2023, when Biosecurity New Zealand, in collaboration with Auckland Airport, launched a new arrivals risk assessment process. Wait times have also improved thanks to a reconfigured layout that allows for more biosecurity officers' desks and larger, more flexible queuing areas. Queues in the domestic terminal for departing passengers are also much shorter, with median queue times at Aviation Security falling by 40% from 6.03 minutes a year ago to 3.37 minutes (March 2024 to March 2025). New scanning and screening technology introduced by Aviation Security in collaboration with Auckland Airport has played a key role in making it quicker for travellers to go through the check point while prioritising safety. 'We know we've still got more work to do to improve the experience for travellers, but the good news is there's much more to come as we get on with building a new domestic jet terminal to serve New Zealand and the future generations of travel,' Ms Hurihanganui said. Aviation Security Deputy Chief Executive Warwick Burr said: 'Auckland Airport is a great partner to work alongside, and I'm pleased to see them leap forward in the corporate reputation index. Our teams have worked collaboratively on many initiatives and projects which aim to smoothly process passengers all while making sure safety and security is, and will always be, the top priority. It's really encouraging to see everyone working as a collective system to improve the overall airport experience in Auckland as well as at airports across Aotearoa.' Customs Group Manager Border Operations Dana McDonald said technological advancements such as the digital New Zealand Traveller Declaration have helped facilitate a smoother arrival for passengers, while Customs continues to remain vigilant against harm or threat passing through our air border. 'Ensuring our busiest international airport remains a safe and secure gateway into our country is an ever-present focus, and a joint effort across the airport network. It's heartening to see this work recognised and reflected in New Zealanders' confidence in Auckland Airport,' says Mr McDonald. The Kantar Corporate Reputation Index, developed in partnership with Wright Communications, is widely regarded as New Zealand's leading measure of corporate reputation. The annual study uses the globally validated Rep Z framework for measuring reputation and combines public perception with deep research.
Scoop
07-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
North Island Is Where It's At: The Plan To Win Over Hearts Of Tourists With First-of-its-kind Alliance
Press Release – Auckland Airport 15 tourism leaders team up to create a new partnership aimed at shining a light on the North Island's tourism offerings that stretch from Martinborough to the Far North. The new North Island tourism promotion collective seeks to accelerate the return of visitation to New Zealand, with Australia and China inbound back in growth mode, and the North America to AKL route now fully recovered Auckland Airport seen an 11% increase in international visitor arrivals to December 2024. Visitor arrivals into AKL are now at 84% of 2019 levels. From the sub-tropical beaches of the Far North to the vineyards of Martinborough and the cultural experiences of Rotorua in between, tourism leaders are joining forces to make a strong play for holidaymakers to experience more of the visitor offerings right across the North Island. A partnership of 15 tourism organisations from around the North Island, this new alliance will be aimed at generating interest from key tourism markets, including Australia, North America and China, with a wider range of sights and experiences. Announced at the Auckland Airport Tourism Forum in Rotorua, ahead of the official opening of TRENZ 2025, Auckland Airport's Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui said the new partnership between the 15 tourism organisations – the first of its kind for regional tourism organisations in the north – aims to bring regions together to highlight and connect the wide range of destination offerings across the North Island to overseas visitors. 'It's about leveraging our collective tourism pulling power. Individually, each region has a fabulous offering but we're wanting to work together to help international visitors to better connect those dots to experience everything that is wonderful and unique about the North Island,' said Ms Hurihanganui. 'As the gateway airport for many visitors to New Zealand, we're really proud to come together with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, RotoruaNZ and the other regional tourism organisations to develop and support this partnership. 'It builds on the work we've already done with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and RotoruaNZ over the past year to attract back more Australian visitors with a dual region North Island destination proposition. We're starting to see that effort flow through to an increase in Australian visitation, which are building back from 83 per cent of pre-pandemic volumes last February to 92 per cent recovered one year on. That's an additional 110,000 Australian tourists.' In 2019 Australian visitors made up 40% of all visitor arrivals to New Zealand. This has now increased to 42% (as of December 2025). Tātaki Auckland Unlimited's Destination Director Annie Dundas said: 'This MOU is a big step forward in helping us strengthen our international presence. The travel landscape is changing, and we need to be smarter about how we show up overseas to sell our respective regions. This partnership allows us to be clearer in our proposition, which in turn will make it easier to meet the needs of our travel partners overseas and ultimately future travellers. 'Our first activity will take place in September in Australia with the North Island Showcase, seeing over 60 North Island tourism operators connect with key Australian travel sellers at two events in Sydney and Melbourne. We see this as a massive opportunity, and we're excited to be part of this collaborative effort,' said Ms Dundas. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today at the forum, with participating regional tourism leaders. The full list includes (in geographical order): Northland Inc Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Destination Hauraki Coromandel Hamilton & Waikato Tourism Tourism Bay of Plenty RotoruaNZ Tairawhiti Gisborne Destination Great Lake Taupo Visit Ruapehu Venture Taranaki Hawkes Bay Tourism Whanganui and Partners Central Economic Development Agency Destination Wairarapa WellingtonNZ A thank you to Wellington Airport and Hamilton Airport for supporting. RotoruaNZ Chief Executive Andrew Wilson said: 'This partnership is a bold and necessary step forward for the North Island's visitor economy. By working together, we move beyond competition and into collaboration – showcasing the sheer breadth of experiences available in our part of Aotearoa, from coastlines to culture, from wellness to adventure. 'RotoruaNZ is proud to stand alongside our regional whānau to support a stronger, more connected North Island proposition. This will not only help international visitors see more of what's on offer, it will encourage longer stays, more meaningful travel, and deeper connections with our people and places. Together, we're making the North Island a compelling destination in its own right.' Connectivity Ms Hurihanganui said tourism is a core contributor to New Zealand's economy and is still in recovery mode since Covid. 'New Zealand's tourism is still a little behind compared to the rest of the world. We're confident it will catch up but it's going to take some collaborative effort from the industry, like what we've announced today, to get there. While there's a lot of uncertainty in markets overseas, particularly the United States, there are still plenty of opportunities. 'Demand over summer was strong, with seven airlines flying the AKL to North America route, which has now fully recovered. 'But the reality is that we're operating in a highly competitive market for airline seat capacity and as a long haul destination we need to make sure that as a tourism sector we're working together to drive traveller demand. Auckland Airport teams are working hard to show our airline partners the value in connecting to New Zealand, doing our bit to grow our country's economic ambitions through tourism,' Ms Hurihanganui added. As at 31 March 2025, AKL achieved a record 379,000 US travellers in the year to February 2025. This compares to 364,000 US visitors the year before, a strong year for travel on this route after the surge during the Kiwi summer of 2023/2024. Chinese visitor arrivals into New Zealand were up 22% year ending February 2025. However, tourists from China are down 44% compared to over 2019. Based on average Chinese visitor spend this gap in arrivals represents a loss of $1.23 billion of international visitor spend. Total international visitor arrivals into AKL are now 84% of 2019 levels. Each year $35.1 billion of economic output is generated from international and domestic travel and tourism by Auckland Airport aviation connections, alongside $26 billion in annual trade flowing through the airport. Auckland Airport currently has 26 airlines flying to 42 destinations.
Scoop
07-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
North Island Is Where It's At: The Plan To Win Over Hearts Of Tourists With First-of-its-kind Alliance
15 tourism leaders team up to create a new partnership aimed at shining a light on the North Island's tourism offerings that stretch from Martinborough to the Far North. The new North Island tourism promotion collective seeks to accelerate the return of visitation to New Zealand, with Australia and China inbound back in growth mode, and the North America to AKL route now fully recovered Auckland Airport seen an 11% increase in international visitor arrivals to December 2024. Visitor arrivals into AKL are now at 84% of 2019 levels. From the sub-tropical beaches of the Far North to the vineyards of Martinborough and the cultural experiences of Rotorua in between, tourism leaders are joining forces to make a strong play for holidaymakers to experience more of the visitor offerings right across the North Island. A partnership of 15 tourism organisations from around the North Island, this new alliance will be aimed at generating interest from key tourism markets, including Australia, North America and China, with a wider range of sights and experiences. Announced at the Auckland Airport Tourism Forum in Rotorua, ahead of the official opening of TRENZ 2025, Auckland Airport's Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui said the new partnership between the 15 tourism organisations – the first of its kind for regional tourism organisations in the north – aims to bring regions together to highlight and connect the wide range of destination offerings across the North Island to overseas visitors. 'It's about leveraging our collective tourism pulling power. Individually, each region has a fabulous offering but we're wanting to work together to help international visitors to better connect those dots to experience everything that is wonderful and unique about the North Island,' said Ms Hurihanganui. 'As the gateway airport for many visitors to New Zealand, we're really proud to come together with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, RotoruaNZ and the other regional tourism organisations to develop and support this partnership. 'It builds on the work we've already done with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and RotoruaNZ over the past year to attract back more Australian visitors with a dual region North Island destination proposition. We're starting to see that effort flow through to an increase in Australian visitation, which are building back from 83 per cent of pre-pandemic volumes last February to 92 per cent recovered one year on. That's an additional 110,000 Australian tourists.' In 2019 Australian visitors made up 40% of all visitor arrivals to New Zealand. This has now increased to 42% (as of December 2025). Tātaki Auckland Unlimited's Destination Director Annie Dundas said: 'This MOU is a big step forward in helping us strengthen our international presence. The travel landscape is changing, and we need to be smarter about how we show up overseas to sell our respective regions. This partnership allows us to be clearer in our proposition, which in turn will make it easier to meet the needs of our travel partners overseas and ultimately future travellers. 'Our first activity will take place in September in Australia with the North Island Showcase, seeing over 60 North Island tourism operators connect with key Australian travel sellers at two events in Sydney and Melbourne. We see this as a massive opportunity, and we're excited to be part of this collaborative effort,' said Ms Dundas. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today at the forum, with participating regional tourism leaders. The full list includes (in geographical order): Northland Inc Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Destination Hauraki Coromandel Hamilton & Waikato Tourism Tourism Bay of Plenty RotoruaNZ Tairawhiti Gisborne Destination Great Lake Taupo Visit Ruapehu Venture Taranaki Hawkes Bay Tourism Whanganui and Partners Central Economic Development Agency Destination Wairarapa WellingtonNZ A thank you to Wellington Airport and Hamilton Airport for supporting. RotoruaNZ Chief Executive Andrew Wilson said: 'This partnership is a bold and necessary step forward for the North Island's visitor economy. By working together, we move beyond competition and into collaboration – showcasing the sheer breadth of experiences available in our part of Aotearoa, from coastlines to culture, from wellness to adventure. 'RotoruaNZ is proud to stand alongside our regional whānau to support a stronger, more connected North Island proposition. This will not only help international visitors see more of what's on offer, it will encourage longer stays, more meaningful travel, and deeper connections with our people and places. Together, we're making the North Island a compelling destination in its own right.' Connectivity Ms Hurihanganui said tourism is a core contributor to New Zealand's economy and is still in recovery mode since Covid. 'New Zealand's tourism is still a little behind compared to the rest of the world. We're confident it will catch up but it's going to take some collaborative effort from the industry, like what we've announced today, to get there. While there's a lot of uncertainty in markets overseas, particularly the United States, there are still plenty of opportunities. 'Demand over summer was strong, with seven airlines flying the AKL to North America route, which has now fully recovered. 'But the reality is that we're operating in a highly competitive market for airline seat capacity and as a long haul destination we need to make sure that as a tourism sector we're working together to drive traveller demand. Auckland Airport teams are working hard to show our airline partners the value in connecting to New Zealand, doing our bit to grow our country's economic ambitions through tourism,' Ms Hurihanganui added. As at 31 March 2025, AKL achieved a record 379,000 US travellers in the year to February 2025. This compares to 364,000 US visitors the year before, a strong year for travel on this route after the surge during the Kiwi summer of 2023/2024. Chinese visitor arrivals into New Zealand were up 22% year ending February 2025. However, tourists from China are down 44% compared to over 2019. Based on average Chinese visitor spend this gap in arrivals represents a loss of $1.23 billion of international visitor spend. Total international visitor arrivals into AKL are now 84% of 2019 levels. Each year $35.1 billion of economic output is generated from international and domestic travel and tourism by Auckland Airport aviation connections, alongside $26 billion in annual trade flowing through the airport. Auckland Airport currently has 26 airlines flying to 42 destinations.
