NEW ZEALAND - China to become New Zealand's 3rd largest tourism market by 2013

xinhuanet.com, Nov 13 2007

China will become New Zealand's third largest market in terms of inbound tourists after Britain and Australia by 2013, said Ed Sims, group general manager of Air New Zealand.
To meet growing demand, Air New Zealand would increase the number of its aircraft flying to the Chinese mainland to four by 2013, including two Boeing 777s and two 787s, said Sims.

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AVIATION - Pacific Blue to increase Flights to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

Asiatraveltips.com, 17 October 2007

Pacific Blue has ramped up flights to both New Zealand and the Pacific Islands following strong demand for extra services around the busy Christmas and New Year period.
The airline currently operates 110 weekly flights serving Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island countries. After some schedule changes, Pacific Blue will operate an additional 124 flights spread over the four and half week festive season, from 21 December 2007 to 20 January 2008, as follows:

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NEW ZEALAND - Welcomes More Inbound Chinese Tourists

chinahospitalitynews.com, June 27, 2007

Following the success of its first China Summit in 2005, Tourism New Zealand has once again convened leaders of the tourism industry of New Zealand in Beijing.
Apart from the host Tourism New Zealand, 48 representatives from New Zealand Tourism Department, New Zealand Embassy in China, Immigration New Zealand, Air New Zealand, and travel agencies from both New Zealand and China attended the meeting and contributed their ideas to the future development of New Zealand tourism.

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NEW ZEALAND - clean, green tourism brand put under microscope

University of Otago, Thursday 30 November 2006

The future of New Zealand’s clean, green tourism brand is up for debate at two upcoming international conferences being held at the University of Otago.

Next week, the University’s Department of Tourism, based in the School of Business, will host the Atlas Asia Pacific ‘Tourism after Oil’ and the Tourism and Hospitality Research ‘Beyond Nature’ conferences.

The conferences, held consecutively, will feature national and international experts in nature tourism, international trade, environmental management and destination branding who will present various views on the need for a long-term perspective on tourism in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tourism Associate Professor James Higham says New Zealand has long been promoted and, arguably, studied in terms of its natural dimensions.

“The ‘100% Pure’ campaign and an emphasis on ‘clean and green’ branding has had great benefits in attracting visitors to New Zealand, but how sustainable is the focus on nature in the long term?

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NEW ZEALAND - Plan to restore Wanganui’s “beating heart” announced in NZ

eTN Asia/Pacific, 31-10-2006

New Zealand’s Wanganui region, located on the lower west coast of the North Island, south of Taranaki and the Taupo and Ruapehu regions, is set to have an $85 million makeover, in a bid to establish the city as a cultural center.

Wanganui area is known for maori culture, heritage, Wanganui National Park and river adventures. The region takes its name from the city of Wanganui, which rests on the banks of the spectacular Wanganui River.

According to local media, the initiative is aimed at restoring Wanganui’s “beating heart.” Mayor Michael Laws has introduced the Heart of Wanganui project, which includes moving the library, a substantial redesign of the Region Museum and a new building linking the Sarjeant Gallery and Alexander Library. The big project would form a ‘beating heart for the city,’” he reportedly said, confirming Wanganui as a cultural center, luring tourists and attracting people to live.

“This project will have recreational, cultural and financial ramifications in Wanganui for the next 50 years. It’s about spending a small amount of money and getting an exponential return,” he said, adding that a public referendum would be held by June to determine which one of seven revamp designs would be followed and the public vote would decide which, if any, projects went ahead and in what order.

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NEW ZEALAND - records highest tourism figures

eTN Asia/Pacific, 09-12-2006

Tourism Ministry figures from New Zealand showing international visitors spent a record new high of NZ$6.6 billion confirms its strategy of attracting higher spending visitors has paid off.

"This is great news for the industry," said Damien O'Connor, tourism minister. "It is the highest recorded figures in New Zealand tourism."

In a recent poll of 30,000 readers by Conde Nast Traveller (UK) magazine, New Zealand was voted the second best country in the world, behind Italy for visitors.

Figures show visitors spent 8 percent, or $500 million more, compared to the same period in the last year, despite arrival figures dropping 0.4 percent.

"The increase is pleasing given that many tourism businesses has been feeling the effects of slow growth," said Fiona Luhrs, chief executive of Tourism Industry Association New Zealand. "The figures show our strategy of targeting high-spending visitors is paying off."

The figures include $172 million spent by British rugby fans during the 2005 Lions tour, proving that hosting sports events can be a lucrative income-earner.

Neighbor Australians contributed $1.5 billion (up by 9 percent), British visitors $1.1 billion (up by 18.5 percent) while visitors from the US contributed $649 million (up 5.6 percent) during the year.

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MARKETS - China Retains Top Spot as Most Frequently Visited Destination

asiatraveltips.com, 8 September 2006

MasterCard Worldwide released on Thursday the results of its MasterIndex of Travel survey report on business and personal travel trends among the urban middle class across 13 markets (Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam). Released twice a year, the survey report shows that intra-regional travel around the region still seems to be the most popular choice.

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NEW ZEALAND - Slow Internet Blamed For Tourism Industry Losses

The recent New Zealand Tourism Industry Association conference was told the lack of broadband access in New Zealand has led to lost business in the tourism industry, according to published reports.

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NEW ZEALAND - Claims NZ's quality tourist image tainted

Heavy marketing of New Zealand to Australians by discount airlines was "tainting" this country's image as a quality destination, a leading Australian ski package wholesaler said.

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