“Beyond convention” to draw in business events customers

14 June 2012

“Beyond convention” to draw in business events customers

Tourism New Zealand has introduced a new campaign to internationally market the business events sector and its ability to exceed expectations.

“Beyond convention” is the creative territory that will provide an umbrella theme for all Tourism New Zealand’s destination marketing material for the business events sector.

It will be used to market New Zealand as both a conference and convention host, and also to promote the country as a non-conventional choice for incentives and events.

A sneak preview of the theme and marketing material was revealed at MEETINGS 2012 today at SkyCity in Auckland.

Tourism New Zealand’s General Manager Marketing Communications Justin Watson says it is the first time a creative theme has been used by the organisation for this sector.

“Tourism New Zealand’s primary role with Business Events is to provide destination marketing, to convince planners that there is much more on offer in New Zealand than if you hosted your event elsewhere.

“Beyond convention can be applied across the sector – for meetings and conferences, convention relates to the event. In the incentives space, it is more about promoting that there is nothing conventional about an incentive trip to New Zealand.”

The theme will be rolled out promoting New Zealand across a range of concepts such as “beyond the meet and greet”; “beyond the morning break” and “beyond the cityscape”.

Conventions and Incentives New Zealand (CINZ) chief executive Alan Trotter welcomes Tourism New Zealand's new marketing initiative.

"New Zealand is a unique destination that offers a treasure trove of options for the conventions and incentives markets and it is important that we work together to promote those offerings to the international market," Mr Trotter says.

"Our goal is not just to secure more conferences and conventions for New Zealand but to also convince those coming here for such events that once they've finished their business they should stay a few days and explore our wonderful country. We want them to stay on, have the holiday of a lifetime, and then go back to their home countries and rave about their experience in New Zealand.

"Tourism New Zealand clearly shares that goal so it's great they've introduced this new destination marketing material," Mr Trotter says.

Tourism New Zealand’s involvement in the business events sector is part of its overall strategic objective to increase the economic contribution of international visitors by attracting more high value visitors and getting them to stay longer.

In addition to the focus on destination marketing and promoting an extension of stay from business events delegates, Tourism New Zealand also assists organisations bidding for the rights to host international conferences through its administration of the Conference Assistance Programme (CAP).

Justin Watson commented that it has been a year since Tourism New Zealand assumed management of the Conference Assistance Programme on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development.

“In the last 12 months, five bids have been successfully won and 10 more are being formulated for conferences out to 2020.”

Research shows that on average, international delegates spend up to three-times more per day than the average international visitor.

About the CAP fund:

The Conference Assistance Programme (CAP) is available to any association or organisation that is in a position to formally bid for an international conference (of over 200 delegates) to be held here in New Zealand.

The CAP Programme can help by:

• Providing you with a financial feasibility study of the conference, if required
• Producing attractive, customised bid documents for you
• Assisting with strategic marketing designed to enhance the chances of winning the conference
• Assisting with air travel to present the bid
• Providing collateral to promote New Zealand (videos and/or printed materials)

Conference Assistance Programme bid wins to date are:

• The 2012 Digital Earth Summit, on September 2-4 which will be held in Wellington after a bid from Wellington City Council, Wellington Convention Bureau and Event Dynamics. The Summit, which has a relevant natural disasters theme, will explore the role of digital earth technology in environmental protection and disaster mitigation. It is estimated to generate $1.6m for the New Zealand economy.

• The Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) Symposium 2013 will be held in Christchurch in late February. Around 150 international delegates are expected to join a further 100 delegates from New Zealand. The pitch was made by the Science Communicators Association of New Zealand (SCANZ).

• In January 2014, 300-400 international delegates will make their way to Queenstown for the General Assembly of Stratospheric Processes And their Role in Climate (SPARC), one of the core projects of the World Climate Research Programme. The conference bid came from Bodeker Scientific and the Queenstown Convention Bureau.

• The 6th Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Congress (APOTC) in 2015 will be held in Rotorua, the first time the event has been held in a Pacific nation. The pitch came from the Rotorua Convention Bureau, and the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists.

• The 2016 International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Working Week will be held in Christchurch. At least 700 delegates from all over the world plus partners and exhibitors are expected bringing an estimated economic benefit of nearly NZ$3 million to the region. The New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and premium sponsor Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) bid for the hosting rights with the support of the University of Otago's National School of Surveying and Conference Innovators.

ENDS

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