New international luxury show

New international luxury show to join TRENZ 2007 at Rotorua

26 October 2006

New Zealand’s most luxurious visitor experiences are to be showcased to international travel and tourism buyers at a new event aimed at helping attract discerning and high spending travellers.

In conjunction with TRENZ 2007, the Tourism Industry Association (TIA) will run a luxury trade show at Treetops Lodge and Estate near Rotorua in May 2007.
TIA Chief Executive Fiona Luhrs said today the luxury trade show for international travel specialists is the start of a new era.

“Extensive research associated with the New Zealand tourism trade show, TRENZ, which has been running annually for more than 20 years, has identified new opportunities for showcasing individual aspects of New Zealand’s now sophisticated tourism sector.

“Worldwide there is a move to themed tourism trade shows organised along market segment lines and the establishment of a luxury showcase is the first step along this path for New Zealand. This is just the start of a new way of presenting New Zealand tourism,” she said.

“The new trade show is being designed with the luxury sector to meet their needs and expectations, and is a model which will be further developed over the next few years.

“We have received a great number of requests from luxury sector operators for TIA together with the major partners in New Zealand tourism promotion - Tourism New Zealand, Air New Zealand and Qantas - to continue to manage the industry’s trade shows and we are responding to those calls,” said Ms Luhrs.

The event will be overseen by a board comprising luxury sector operators and TIA. They are Richard Bagnall, Tim Barrow, Callum Farnell, Heiko Kaiser, Fiona Luhrs, Jennifer McBrearty, Sam Porter, Trevor Rendle,

Victoria Shaw, Erin Sullivan and Karine Thomas, with Ray Grubb as advisor.
Ms Luhrs said the show will draw together the luxury lodges and boutique hotels which have earned New Zealand a reputation as an international leader with repeated recognition in travel publications such as Conde Nast Traveller, Travel + Leisure, and Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report.

Buyers will also have the opportunity to attend TRENZ and access the range of activities sought after by the luxury traveller including individual guided environmental experiences, Maori cultural interpretation on a one to one basis, and personalised helicopter tours.

“All these experiences will combine to demonstrate just how well New Zealand matches its tourism operators to the quality of its natural environment,” Ms Luhrs said.

The luxury trade show will take place at Treetops Lodge and Estate on 19-20 May 2007. Treetops Manager Heiko Kaiser and Don Gunn, General Manager, Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing, said they were delighted to provide the opportunity for the top 40 New Zealand luxury operators to meet with international buyers in their region. Mr Gunn said Rotorua will turn on a show buyers will find memorable.

“This is all about demonstrating to the international market that New Zealand has come of age, that tourism here in Rotorua and throughout New Zealand is savvy and sophisticated and exceeds the expectations of the most experienced traveller.”

The first luxury trade show will be held over two days, with international and local buyers nominated by industry partners, operators and their representatives. In a completely informal atmosphere agents and operators will hold 40 x 20-minute meetings. An outstanding range of entertainment and activities will be offered to further highlight the range of New Zealand luxury experiences.

TRENZ 2007 immediately follows the luxury trade show and runs from 21-24 May 2007 in Rotorua city. TRENZ (Tourism Industry Rendezvous New Zealand) is New Zealand’s largest international tourism event. It features around 400 of New Zealand’s leading providers of visitor accommodation, transport, activities and attractions, as well as destination organisers.

TRENZ attracts buyers from New Zealand’s major and emerging visitor markets who come to purchase accommodation, transport and activities at wholesale rates, and include them in brochures and itineraries for forthcoming seasons.
TRENZ is managed by TIA in partnership with Tourism New Zealand, and with support from Air New Zealand, Qantas and key industry partners.

Key statistics about tourism:

- Tourism is the world's fastest growing industry
- New Zealand tourism arrivals have doubled in size since 1994 to 2.38 million
- Forecast annual growth is 4% on average for at least the next five years
- Tourism is New Zealand's single largest export sector and contributed $8.1 billion dollars to the economy in the year ended March 2004. That is 18.7% of exports
- Domestic tourism contributes $9.4 billion to the economy each year
- Tourism directly and indirectly employs 10 percent of the work force. That is one in 10 jobs in New Zealand.
- Tourism represents 9% of gross domestic product and generates nearly $526 million in GST returns from international visitors each year. Tourism is the only export sector whose international clients pay GST.

ENDS

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