In front of a packed ballroom of New Zealand business and political leaders at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland, Canuckiwi Ltd was named the evenings award winner of the AmCham – DHL Success & Innovation “Contribution to Tourism” award during their 25th anniversary gala.
The Contribution to Tourism award was created to recognise the passion and dedication that a tourism entity has contributed to the growth of travel and tourism between New Zealand and the USA or vice versa.
It was a tightly contested category with the other finalists all in contention for the award including IGG Destination Marketing, Great Journeys New Zealand and Canuckiwi Ltd.
“Canuckiwi, led by Corey Marshall and Karen McCardle were chosen as the award winner for their extensive presentation showcasing their “Kiwi Can Do attitude” towards Tourism, commented the Judges of the category.
“Their straight forward, results orientated, client focused approach with growing the brands of their USA clients into the markets of both New Zealand and Australia has been significant. From tour operator room night production to earned media values and comprehensive FAM tour surveying and follow-up, Canuckiwi has developed a program that is in-penetrable. Canuckiwi truly ‘walks the walk’ in terms of educating themselves on the destinations they represent and re-telling those stories in-market. Corey and his team’s passion are without boundaries. They are there supporting every new airline route launched out of Aotearoa, they chair and vice chair the Visit USA New Zealand committee and they believe in their products and truly live for the activities that most inspire tourists. For these reasons, they are the worthy winner of the AmCham Tourism Award.”
Marshall and McCardle accepted the award on the company’s behalf from event sponsor United Airlines.
“It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of so many innovative tourism organisations, airline partners, and travel media across New Zealand that together inspire Kiwis’ to travel to the USA and extend beyond the traditional gateways. This allows us to come up with unique marketing strategies and programs to implement into the market”, said Marshall. “We truly have the best jobs in the world and are continually inspired by not only the destinations that we work with but the USA as a whole, with such diversity in landscape, culture and experiences to promote. We are absolutely thrilled and extremely proud to accept this award. It is an incredible feeling to be acknowledged by AmCham, the sponsors and our industry peers”.
