NZ tourism operators attend largest youth trade event

Tourism New Zealand and industry partners attended The World Youth and Student Travel Conference 2011 (WYSTC) in Barcelona, Spain, from September 20-23, opening doors in the vital youth sector.

The tourism operators involved in the brightly themed New Zealand 'village' were THL (Tourism Holdings Ltd which has Kiwi Experience and Backpacker Campervans), YHA New Zealand, AJ Hackett Bungy, Ngai Tahu Tourism, and Taupo Tourism Holdings (Taupo Bungy and Taupo Cliffhanger).

WYSTC is an essential event for the global youth travel industry. Most attendees hold top-level positions, and the majority represent study abroad/international education, work experience/gap year, and student travel markets. It is an annual event and celebrates its twentieth anniversary next year.

Tourism New Zealand General Manager Marketing Communications Justin Watson says the youth segment is a vital one for New Zealand tourism and one that the organisation is very committed to.

"We are about to launch a really exciting new global youth campaign- "there's too much to miss", to drive more younger travellers to this country. This market currently makes up almost a quarter of our visitor arrivals; plus they tend to stay for a long duration, travel far and wide, and return."

YHA New Zealand Customer Services Manager Andrena McPhillips says attending the conference was especially beneficial to gain insights and contacts in the groups outbound markets, especially in the UK and USA. "It's an area we want to develop so it was great to have one place to network and have important doors opened.

"The New Zealand 'village' was fantastic, especially the imagery. I'm looking forward to furthering the opportunities we created from attending WYSTC."

Tourism New Zealand's youth message within the 100% Pure You campaign, 'There's Too Much To Miss' has been running since the beginning of this year. In November an exciting new initiative launches aimed at positioning New Zealand as the world's most appealing backpacking and working holiday destination.