Tourism New Zealand Awards a chance to recognise continued strength of UK market

Tourism Minister Mark Burton today congratulated the UK travel industry for their innovation and excellence in marketing New Zealand as a top tourism destination.

Speaking at the Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand Travel and Tourism Awards in London, Mark Burton said that although New Zealand’s tourism sector has been affected by global events over the past 12 months, UK visitor numbers have shown an overall pattern of growth.

“Much of this continued success comes down to the outstanding work done by the people in this room. In order to keep New Zealand at the forefront of international tourism, we need an offshore travel trade that understands the unique products New Zealand has on offer, and that is able to communicate this to the public in innovative and targeted ways.

“The United Kingdom has traditionally been a strong market for New Zealand, second only to Australia in terms of visitor numbers. But, beyond their worth in terms of market share, guests from the UK are valuable in terms of their fit with our target market—termed by Tourism New Zealand as the “interactive traveller.”

“These high-yield, high-value travellers regularly visit international destinations, like to get off the beaten track, and consume a wide range of tourism products. They come to New Zealand for authentic experiences with our natural, social, and cultural environments.

“Our goal is to continue to build a truly sustainable, yield-driven industry—one that strikes a balance between managing the impacts of our growing tourism sector and maximising its obvious economic benefits. To achieve this, we must both manage the growth of visitor numbers and focus on attracting the kind of visitors who will respect our country’s unique attributes.

“The long-term future of our sector depends on quality. It depends on every visitor receiving a world-class experience—meeting or exceeding their expectations on every level. Tonight’s awards recognise those in the trade who settle for nothing less than the highest standards in quality, setting the benchmark for the rest of the industry.

“Your outstanding work is essential to the continued success of the New Zealand tourism industry. I look forward to continuing to work in partnership to develop New Zealand even further as a world-class, year-round, international holiday destination.”

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