Kia ora THE
As we quickly approach the busy summer season, we're reminded of the resilience and strength of our tourism industry. Our thoughts are with the communities and businesses impacted by the recent wildfires in Tongariro National Park. I know you'll all join me in thanking the emergency services, local authorities and other ground crews who worked tirelessly to control the situation, and we are hugely grateful that no lives were lost. While the fire has been extinguished, the recovery of the whenua/land will take some time. We're thinking of all tourism operators within the region and know you are doing a wonderful job at welcoming visitors back.
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Speaking of summer, our new Active Escapes - Run, Walk, Hike, Bike campaign has launched just in time for the warmer months. The year-long campaign seeks to make 100% Pure New Zealand the most famous, desirable and bookable active escape destination on earth through a global programme of work which promotes product through industry participation and drives bookings through trade conversion and bookable experiences.
The Active Escapes hub is live on newzealand.com now, providing inspiration and options suitable for all travellers so they can get into the outdoors and find their 100% Pure New Zealand. It really shows the huge number of fantastic experiences and opportunities on offer through operators and RTOs, so thank you to everyone who has been involved. Keep an eye on our Visual Library, where the industry toolkit will be available next week.
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On the international front, Kiwi Link Greater China concluded earlier this month and is a critical event on our annual calendar for enabling New Zealand operators to connect face-to-face with travel trade partners from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. What happens when you connect 50 New Zealand sellers and 100 Greater China buyers? 4,000 one-on-ones in just three days! These conversations are vital in establishing business relationships, addressing barriers, shaping demand and driving holiday bookings. Well done to all involved during this busy week.
Our Business Events team was also representing New Zealand abroad, attending the ICCA Congress in Porto, Portugal. The Congress brought together over 1,500 business events professionals from 81 countries for education and networking.
We're also congratulating Sherylee Eyles from Tourism New Zealand's Business Events team, whose entry won the ICCA Business Intelligence Coopetition. Her innovative approach to maximising conference bid success using the ICCA BI database and AI was recognised as the leading entry in the 'coopetition', a platform showcasing innovation in data management and aimed at sharing knowledge for the advancement of the business events industry.
Alongside Tourism New Zealand's Penelope Ryan (Global Manager Business Events) and Leonie Ashford (Business Events Special Advisor and Asia Pacific Chair of the ICCA Board), we also had a number of Kiwis flying the flag across the education programme:
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Alana Bicknell from the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC), on how to make sustainability and impact a competitive advantage
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Danielle Shanahan from Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne, speaking about regenerative tourism
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Ross Steele from Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, on future readiness and issues from AI to wellbeing and crisis management in events
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Meg Williams from World of Wearable Art (WoW) on what business events professionals can learn from artists.
We're fortunate to have been so well represented at the ICCA Congress, demonstrating our significant share of voice in the business events sector.
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Lastly, thank you for all the positive comments and excitement surrounding the MICHELIN Guide announcement earlier this month. Food and hospitality is a significant component of our tourism industry and 'trying local cuisine' is the top interest among people actively considering New Zealand for their next holiday. We're looking forward to telling New Zealand's food story and continuing to build our reputation as an epic foodie destination ahead of the first Aotearoa New Zealand MICHELIN Guide being revealed in mid-2026.
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