TRENZ 2009 boosting NZ’s economy

27 May 2009

Media Release

TRENZ 2009 boosting NZ’s economy

Almost 300 media and international travel buyers with the power to influence New Zealand’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry for the next few years are coming to Auckland for TRENZ 2009.

TRENZ 2009, New Zealand’s largest international tourism business event, will be held at the ASB Showgrounds, 8-11 June 2009.

The 260 travel and tourism buyers, and 30 media representatives will be one of the largest contingents of international travel trade representatives to visit Auckland for several years, Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) Chief Executive Tim Cossar says.

“The buyers are all coming here to do business with the 270 leading New Zealand tourism operators taking part in TRENZ. Over the four days of the event, the buyers will be looking to negotiate agreements on accommodation, transport, tours and activities they can sell to their clients over the next two or three seasons,” Mr Cossar says.

“These buyers represent a significant proportion of international tourism business to New Zealand so they will have a considerable influence over the future of our industry during these challenging economic times.”

The buyers are coming from 28 countries, including all New Zealand’s major visitor markets such as China, USA, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan (see table below).

The international media delegates at TRENZ will be gathering information on New Zealand for a wide variety of news and feature articles, tourism websites and guidebooks. They include representatives from Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Australia’s ‘Getaway’ television programme and a variety of travel magazines.

“This is a great opportunity for our tourism industry to make direct contact with these publications, which can spread the message about the fantastic experiences New Zealand has to offer travellers to large global audiences,” Mr Cossar says.

For New Zealand tourism operators, TRENZ is a cost-effective opportunity to reach a large number of buyers and media in one place at one time, without having to travel overseas.

“Like many other sectors, the New Zealand tourism industry is feeling the impact of the global economic downturn, with predictions of a 10% drop in international visitors over the next few months,” Mr Cossar says.

“Now more than ever, we need keep our share of voice in international markets strong and TRENZ, New Zealand’s flagship tourism trade show, is critical in helping us to make this happen.”

TRENZ 2009 is managed by TIA as agent of the Tourism Industry New Zealand Trust and in partnership with Tourism New Zealand, Air New Zealand and other industry supporters. The Ministry of Tourism is also a major supporter of TRENZ 2009. For more information, visit www.trenz.co.nz .

Key Facts

• Tourism contributes close to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) for New Zealand

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• Tourism directly and indirectly employs nearly one in ten New Zealanders (this includes 108,100 FTE directly and 73,100 FTE indirectly).

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• Tourism in New Zealand is a $50 million per day industry. Tourism delivers $24 million in foreign exchange to the New Zealand economy each day of the year. Domestic tourism contributes another $26 million in economic activity every day.

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• Total tourism expenditure reached $20.1 billion for the year ended March 2007. International visitor expenditure accounted for $8.8 billion or 18.3% of New Zealand’s foreign exchange earnings.

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Visit www.tianz.org.nz for more information.

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