Adapt - the key message at Inbound Tour Operators Council Conference

Tourism New Zealand's key message to inbound tour operators at ITOC's 40th anniversary annual conference in Tauranga last week highlighted the need to adapt and grab opportunities in challenging times.

While Tourism New Zealand attends the ITOC conference every year, Tourism New Zealand General Manager Tourism Operations Paul Yeo said this year's presentation was a little different.

"We included some inbound operators into our panel discussion to ensure the discussion was very useful and relevant.

"Over the past year Tourism New Zealand has been more trade focused and we are gaining a better insight into the particular challenges that operators face."

Although many operators are facing challenging times, especially in traditional long haul markets like UK, Europe and USA, Mr Yeo said there is a lot of optimism for the developing Asian market.

"Everything has changed over the past year or so, for everyone in the tourism industry.

"The way through is to focus on opportunities like Rugby World Cup 2011 and long term strategies such as developing our Asian markets.

"We talk about partnerships a lot and hopefully this conference helped operators realise that we really do need each other, especially in these current times."

For information about Tourism New Zealand's Asia Visitor Study click here.