News & Analysis

New South Wales police officer Joshua Paroci has been named as the tourist who died during a rafting trip on Saturday.

Otago has topped a table ranking the negative impact of tourism with more than half the region’s residents believing swelling international visitors bring excessive pressure.

Thousands of passengers will have their travel plans disrupted for months to come after Air New Zealand was forced to ground two of its Dreamliner aircraft and send their engines off to be fixed. 

A year into the job as TNZ’s chief executive, Stephen England-Hall has initiated a major review of the country’s marketing agency that could see a significant shift in its work at home.

Mobile apps, adjustable bylaws and standardised signage were three tools to mitigate freedom camping issues put on the table at yesterday’s Local Government New Zealand symposium.

Wellington’s new economic development and tourism boss has laid out the business events case for a new $165m convention centre in the capital. 

Tourism New Zealand’s next big marketing campaign should have a stronger Māori cultural component, says the chairman of NZ Māori Tourism.

The government has announced its nine-strong freedom camping working group as council leaders from around the country gather in Nelson for a second Local Government New Zealand symposium on the issue.

Auckland Airport has appointed Anna Cassels-Brown its new general manager of operations.

The minister of tourism highlights the “tremendous potential” of Māori culture to drive tourism and why a more holistic approach towards growth is now needed.

The government has announced four new Māori tourism scholarships as part of a drive to unlock “innovation and growth” in the tourism sector.

The government’s proposed employment law changes have been labelled a “barrier to employment” and “totally impractical” by the tourism industry.

Auckland will be the first city in New Zealand to host an upcoming global artificial intelligence conference after winning a bid to host the 2020 event.

The criteria for applying for finance from the $100m Tourism Infrastructure Fund is under review and could become less restrictive, says the government.

The minister for Māori development and local government, Nanaia Mahuta, tells the World Indigenous Tourism Summit at Waitangi that a Māori dimension is crucial to the country’s tourism sector.

Kiwis are twice as likely than Australians to believe international visitors put too much pressure on their respective countries, according to new research.

Waikato’s Hauraki Rail Trail has been given a leg-up to increase its share of the international cycling market after winning up to $3.4m in government funding.

More than 300 delegates from 20 countries will converge on Waitangi today for the World Indigenous Tourism Summit 2018.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa has set up a temporary home across the road from its 79 Boulcott Street headquarters in Wellington while the building undergoes strengthening work.

Queenstown’s The Helicopter Line should review its safety systems after four “serious landing accidents” in three years, says the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC).

A luxury French cruise ship should improve its voyage planning and information systems following a collision with rocks while on a 16-night South Island cruise.

The number of visitors who freedom camped in New Zealand has almost doubled since 2015 to reach 110,000 last year, according to MBIE.

Staff from New Zealand’s tourism and travel industry associations will be working from home today while they wait for word on whether they will be able to return to their Wellington headquarters. 

Haka Tourism Group has appointed AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand’s Graham Kinlan as its new general manager.

Southern regions drove international guests nights over the top of domestic in February for the first time in eight years.

Tourism and transport businesses across Auckland continue to be severely affected by a destructive storm that has battered parts of the North Island.

Tour operators who take visitors through the Waitākere Ranges will still be able to gain access to it despite the coming closure of the forested areas of the park. 

Plans to axe the Taupō-based Greenlea rescue helicopter has angered operators in the region who say it makes no sense and will increase the time it takes to get to emergencies.

Air New Zealand has scooped multiple categories in the second annual TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2018 including being ranked second best of all airlines globally.

A record number of inbound travel companies will attend the Regional Tourism NZ (RTNZ) inbound trade event in Auckland tomorrow.

A major new Taranaki tourism initiative is set to get off the ground following the latest deployment from the government’s $1bn Provincial Growth Fund.

How is Rotorua competing for events on the world stage, what sectors of the domestic market is it targeting and what effect will NZ’s new convention centres have on the destination’s share of the MICE market? The Ticker’s Bridget O’Connell was taken on a tour of the city’s conference offerings. 

Strong growth in international spend was not enough to offset a sharp fall in the amount spent by domestic delegates in 2017 according to the latest Convention Delegate Survey.

Dennis Burkhart has a view but it’s not one you normally hear when interviewing business owners on a deal they have just closed. 

Margy Osmond, chief executive of Australia’s Tourism & Transport Forum, on the impact and legacy of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Rotorua-based Off Road NZ boss, Ian Tew, on developing adventure activity products for the C&I market, how Rotorua is competing for the luxury market and the need for more air connectivity to the North Island tourism hotspot.

Partly automated cleaning stations are being rolled out across regions at risk of kauri dieback disease.

Wanaka’s Treble Cone has appointed Toby Arnott as its new ski area general manager.

Derek Fry, who finished his interim chief executive role at WREDA last week, argues the delayed Wellington Airport runway extension is important if the capital wants to get its fair share of tourism.

As part of TIA’s effort to implement the Tourism Insight Framework actions, Victoria University of Wellington is conducting a survey to better understand how the tourism industry currently uses insight.

Easter gave the regions a spending boost of $36.7m, up 14.8% of the same dates last year, with Otago leading the way thanks to the Ed Sheeran concerts and the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow.

As some regional tourism organisations face funding cuts or fail to increase budgets, destination and services marketing strategist, Lyn Cheyne, asks who should fund our tourism?

Ed Sheeran’s three Dunedin concerts, a big 30th anniversary crowd at the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow, and generally fine weather across Otago are all expected to contribute to a bumper Easter for the region’s retailers and operators.

Tourism spending grew in all regions over the past year to February 2018 with Canterbury and the West Coast regions showing the largest increases with monthly returns boosted by Chinese New Year.

Stats NZ has updated stakeholders on the progress being made in its review of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s beleaguered International Visitor Survey.

Buller District Council has voted overwhelmingly to keep control of Tourism West Coast but has left the door open to the local economic development agency to proceed with its take it over.

Drag queens, skateboarders and a comic give Wellington’s new $390,000 winter campaign launching today a diverse sub-cultural edge.

The introduction of a new non-stop service between Auckland and Chicago makes New Zealand “more accessible than ever” to the growing US visitor market.

SKYCITY Entertainment Group is now planning for a late 2019 completion of its $703m New Zealand International Convention Centre and Hobson St hotel projects.

A move by a government funded trust to take over Tourism West Coast has been met by fierce resistance, but Development West Coast’s chief executive, Chris Mackenzie, says integrating the marketing agency into DWC’s economic development work makes perfect sense.