Innovation focus for new Tourism Industry Awards

Innovation focus for new Tourism Industry Awards

Innovation is the focus for the 2010 Tourism Industry Awards, relaunched today at TRENZ 2010, New Zealand’s largest tourism industry trade event being held at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland.

Continual innovation is critical in an industry operating in a world of dynamic change, and so is vital to the future of New Zealand tourism industry, Tourism Industry Association (TIA) Chief Executive Tim Cossar says.

“We wanted something fresh and aspirational,” Mr Cossar says. “Innovation within New Zealand tourism is a key platform in our tourism strategy and having the awards focus on innovation clearly illustrates that new thinking and adaptability to rapid change will be the hallmarks of success in the future if we want to retain a world leadership position.”

Innovation can occur across a wide range of areas including financial management, process management, product development and enhancement, and delivery of that product by various brand, channel and customer experiences.

“The judges will be looking to identify successful innovation that has led to shareholders and stakeholders getting a better bottom line investment, as well as creating world-class visitor experiences,” says Mr Cossar.

Entries for the 2010 Awards open on 4 June. The judging will be in a two stage process. Entries will be initially scored by an Electoral College of assessors selected from a wide range of industry leaders and experts. The majority of finalists will be announced and the winners will be chosen by a final panel of judges, with a celebration event being held in October.

“We want a diverse range of tourism businesses to enter these awards, because innovative thinking occurs in all areas of our industry, and in all scales of businesses,” says Mr Cossar. “We are also going to highlight individual personalities within the industry, who have significantly contributed to the business they represent or the wider industry in a unique way.”

Categories that a business can enter:
Accommodation – Hotel
Accommodation – Motel
Accommodation – Backpacker
Accommodation - Holiday Park
Visitor Attraction and Experience – Large
Visitor Attraction and Experience - Small and Medium
Heritage and Culture Attraction or Activity
Luxury Experience
Festival /Event
Conservation in Action
Visitor Transport
Tourism Distribution
Tourism Workplace Training
Tourism Education and Training
Innovative Marketing Campaign
Local Government Helping Visitor Industry

A Supreme Award winner will be chosen from the winners of these categories.

Individual awards that will be presented:
Outstanding Contribution to Tourism
PATA Young Tourism Professional Award
Horwath HTL Sir Jack Newman Award (for services to tourism)

“We are looking forward to celebrating with the industry the success stories that we know will come out through this awards programme. The Awards in 2010 are one way of putting innovation at centre stage in everything we do as an industry,” says Mr Cossar.

For more information, visit www.tourismawards.co.nz

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