RSS Feed Trade events season about to kick off

Travel sellers and potential visitors throughout Asia and Australia are set to receive an influx of information about destination New Zealand as the first of the 2012 offshore trade and consumer events roll out.

"Training others in how to sell certain products and a holiday in New Zealand is a vital part of our market development programme. Our support of New Zealand operators and their attendance at trade and consumer events is one of the ways that we help facilitate this training in key growth markets," says General Manager Marketing Communications Justin Watson.

In March Tourism New Zealand is supporting a range of tourism operators and Regional Tourism Organisations to attend the Greater China Mission in Shenzhen 5-7 March and the South Asia Roadshow in four locations throughout South Asia from 12-22 March. Consumer events include the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) show, 16-18 March where Tourism New Zealand will host a stand for operators and the Australian Consumer Holiday and Travel Shows which will be held in four regions throughout Australia from March through to April.

A key objective for Tourism New Zealand is to ensure that a broad mix of hotels, activities and regions are represented at each of the events. To give participants the best opportunity to build relationships with key travel trade, full support is provided before and during the event, with events promoted in market to travel sellers and appointments arranged.

"Our goal is to help attendees share their knowledge of their product and connect with the market place- ultimately assisting travel sellers to plan satisfying activity-filled holidays in New Zealand for their clients while also gaining a better understanding of the markets product requirements."

With a huge number of travel events around the world, Tourism New Zealand selects events based on a range of requirements such as how well they match what New Zealand offers as a destination, how they will help attract visitors from target markets and if they offer best value for money for attendees.

The Greater China Mission in Shenzhen will see 25 operators, Air New Zealand and China Southern, complete one-on-one training meetings with between 70-80 wholesale and retail travel companies and airlines. Tourism Australia is also attending as part of Tourism New Zealand's focus on collaborating more with Australia to grow visitor numbers.

The South Asia Roadshow consists of four training events in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok. While closer to home the Consumer Holiday and Travel Shows Australia will run in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

While registrations for the above events have now closed, keep an eye on our website for more events.

For a list of specific dates and details see the Events section on tourismnewzealand.com.