Latest news with #TRENZ2025
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Taupō Attends TRENZ 2025
Press Release – Destination Great Lake Taupo In total, the Taup region contributed to more than 650 meetings across the event. The projected economic benefit for Taup from these trade relationships is estimated at $2 million. Held over two and a half days, TRENZ 2025 brought together more than 1,200 delegates, including over 340 travel buyers from 26 countries – offering a vital opportunity to drive visitation and economic growth in the Taupō region. This year, DGLT engaged in 52 meetings with key international buyers from the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, India and Asia. Taupō was well represented with support from local operators including Orakei Korako, Escape Aviation, Poronui Lodge, The Haka Shop, Chris Jolly Outdoors, and Destinate NZ. These regional experiences were showcased alongside major national brands such as AJ Hackett, Millennium, Hilton, Haka House, Ngāi Tahu, Rapids Jet, Te Pā Tū, Unique Stays and River Birches. In total, the Taupō region contributed to more than 650 meetings across the event. The projected economic benefit for Taupō from these trade relationships is estimated at $2 million. Taupō also hosted five familiarisation trips, welcoming 15 international agents to the region and showcasing over 35 operators. These immersive experiences provided a deeper understanding of Taupō's offerings – from luxury lodges and outdoor adventures to cultural and family-friendly experiences. 'It was amazing to discover a place I had not known about previously. What a delight to find a region that has so much to offer our high-net-worth clientele. Taupō packs a great offering for our Indian clients, granting access to the best of the Central North Island,' said Aneri Shah, Product Manager, A Travel Duet. 'I have been selling New Zealand for 26 years but this is the first time I've stayed in the region. I was amazed to learn that just down the road from the tourism hotspot of Rotorua, Taupō has so much to offer. I definitely need to change out some of my upcoming itineraries for my European visitors and add at least two, more like three nights in Taupō. Next year, I'll be sending my colleagues to explore,' said Damir Tomasevic, Product Manager, Pacific Travel House. 'TRENZ is a great opportunity to reconnect with agents and showcase what's new,' said Tim Barke from Poronui. 'While Poronui has been around for a while, what we offer today is essentially a new product — from luxury multigenerational lodging to experiences like horse trekking, e-biking, and guided walks across our 16,000-acre property. There's been strong interest in the lake house, our safari camp, and lodge dining. The feedback has been incredibly positive.' 'It's our first time at TRENZ, and it's been great to connect,' added Nikolos Gibson from Orakei Korako. 'We've had the chance to highlight what makes our attraction unique. Taupō remains a very underrated destination. I'd definitely attend again.' 'It's been exciting to share what we offer from a uniquely local perspective,' said Snow Rameka of The Haka Shop. 'We believe our point of difference really stands out. The chance to connect with potential clients has been valuable, especially as we look to grow. The event has been incredibly well organised — a real credit to the team.' TRENZ 2025 continues to be a powerful platform to showcase the diversity of experiences available in Taupō, strengthening its presence on the global stage and reinforcing its reputation as one of New Zealand's most welcoming and rewarding destinations.
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Taupō Attends TRENZ 2025
Press Release – Destination Great Lake Taupo This year, DGLT engaged in 52 meetings with key international buyers from the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, India and Asia. The Taup region contributed to more than 650 meetings across the event. Held over two and a half days, TRENZ 2025 brought together more than 1,200 delegates, including over 340 travel buyers from 26 countries – offering a vital opportunity to drive visitation and economic growth in the Taupō region. This year, DGLT engaged in 52 meetings with key international buyers from the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, India and Asia. Taupō was well represented with support from local operators including Orakei Korako, Escape Aviation, Poronui Lodge, The Haka Shop, Chris Jolly Outdoors, and Destinate NZ. These regional experiences were showcased alongside major national brands such as AJ Hackett, Millennium, Hilton, Haka House, Ngāi Tahu, Rapids Jet, Te Pā Tū, Unique Stays and River Birches. In total, the Taupō region contributed to more than 650 meetings across the event. The projected economic benefit for Taupō from these trade relationships is estimated at $2 million. Taupō also hosted five familiarisation trips, welcoming 15 international agents to the region and showcasing over 35 operators. These immersive experiences provided a deeper understanding of Taupō's offerings – from luxury lodges and outdoor adventures to cultural and family-friendly experiences. 'It was amazing to discover a place I had not known about previously. What a delight to find a region that has so much to offer our high-net-worth clientele. Taupō packs a great offering for our Indian clients, granting access to the best of the Central North Island,' said Aneri Shah, Product Manager, A Travel Duet. 'I have been selling New Zealand for 26 years but this is the first time I've stayed in the region. I was amazed to learn that just down the road from the tourism hotspot of Rotorua, Taupō has so much to offer. I definitely need to change out some of my upcoming itineraries for my European visitors and add at least two, more like three nights in Taupō. Next year, I'll be sending my colleagues to explore,' said Damir Tomasevic, Product Manager, Pacific Travel House. 'TRENZ is a great opportunity to reconnect with agents and showcase what's new,' said Tim Barke from Poronui. 'While Poronui has been around for a while, what we offer today is essentially a new product — from luxury multigenerational lodging to experiences like horse trekking, e-biking, and guided walks across our 16,000-acre property. There's been strong interest in the lake house, our safari camp, and lodge dining. The feedback has been incredibly positive.' 'It's our first time at TRENZ, and it's been great to connect,' added Nikolos Gibson from Orakei Korako. 'We've had the chance to highlight what makes our attraction unique. Taupō remains a very underrated destination. I'd definitely attend again.' 'It's been exciting to share what we offer from a uniquely local perspective,' said Snow Rameka of The Haka Shop. 'We believe our point of difference really stands out. The chance to connect with potential clients has been valuable, especially as we look to grow. The event has been incredibly well organised — a real credit to the team.' TRENZ 2025 continues to be a powerful platform to showcase the diversity of experiences available in Taupō, strengthening its presence on the global stage and reinforcing its reputation as one of New Zealand's most welcoming and rewarding destinations.
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Taupō Attends TRENZ 2025
Held over two and a half days, TRENZ 2025 brought together more than 1,200 delegates, including over 340 travel buyers from 26 countries – offering a vital opportunity to drive visitation and economic growth in the Taupō region. This year, DGLT engaged in 52 meetings with key international buyers from the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, India and Asia. Taupō was well represented with support from local operators including Orakei Korako, Escape Aviation, Poronui Lodge, The Haka Shop, Chris Jolly Outdoors, and Destinate NZ. These regional experiences were showcased alongside major national brands such as AJ Hackett, Millennium, Hilton, Haka House, Ngāi Tahu, Rapids Jet, Te Pā Tū, Unique Stays and River Birches. In total, the Taupō region contributed to more than 650 meetings across the event. The projected economic benefit for Taupō from these trade relationships is estimated at $2 million. Taupō also hosted five familiarisation trips, welcoming 15 international agents to the region and showcasing over 35 operators. These immersive experiences provided a deeper understanding of Taupō's offerings – from luxury lodges and outdoor adventures to cultural and family-friendly experiences. 'It was amazing to discover a place I had not known about previously. What a delight to find a region that has so much to offer our high-net-worth clientele. Taupō packs a great offering for our Indian clients, granting access to the best of the Central North Island,' said Aneri Shah, Product Manager, A Travel Duet. 'I have been selling New Zealand for 26 years but this is the first time I've stayed in the region. I was amazed to learn that just down the road from the tourism hotspot of Rotorua, Taupō has so much to offer. I definitely need to change out some of my upcoming itineraries for my European visitors and add at least two, more like three nights in Taupō. Next year, I'll be sending my colleagues to explore,' said Damir Tomasevic, Product Manager, Pacific Travel House. 'TRENZ is a great opportunity to reconnect with agents and showcase what's new,' said Tim Barke from Poronui. 'While Poronui has been around for a while, what we offer today is essentially a new product — from luxury multigenerational lodging to experiences like horse trekking, e-biking, and guided walks across our 16,000-acre property. There's been strong interest in the lake house, our safari camp, and lodge dining. The feedback has been incredibly positive.' 'It's our first time at TRENZ, and it's been great to connect,' added Nikolos Gibson from Orakei Korako. 'We've had the chance to highlight what makes our attraction unique. Taupō remains a very underrated destination. I'd definitely attend again.' 'It's been exciting to share what we offer from a uniquely local perspective,' said Snow Rameka of The Haka Shop. 'We believe our point of difference really stands out. The chance to connect with potential clients has been valuable, especially as we look to grow. The event has been incredibly well organised — a real credit to the team.' TRENZ 2025 continues to be a powerful platform to showcase the diversity of experiences available in Taupō, strengthening its presence on the global stage and reinforcing its reputation as one of New Zealand's most welcoming and rewarding 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
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.
