Kiwi North, a significant new tourism partnership between 15 NZ North Island regional tourism organisations (RTO), landed in Australia on Monday to launch a two-city roadshow for Aussie travel trade and trade media.
Events got underway with a delicious Sydney media lunch in The Private Kitchen.
During the roadshow, as the week unfolds, representatives from the North Island RTO and more than 70 tourism operators will meet face-to-face with Australian product managers, frontline travel sellers, editors and journalists in Sydney and Melbourne.
The partnership is a significant joint investment in the Australian market – New Zealand’s most crucial visitor base – to showcase the diversity, depth and trade-ready experiences on offer across the North Island.
“We’re here to give Australians even more reasons to head north,” says Karen Thompson-Smith, Head of Tourism at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited. “This roadshow is about responding to what the industry and travellers are asking for – more connection, more clarity and more inspiration. We’re making it easier than ever to discover, sell and book the North Island.”
Some of the Kiwi North team in Sydney on Monday.
“Just a short hop from Australia, the North Island offers an easy blend of vibrant cities, rich culture and spectacular scenery.
“Whether it’s the newly reopened Huka Lodge on Lake Taupō, a world-class golf experience at Te Arai Links, buzzing nightlife in Auckland, or fresh cultural offerings from Waitangi to Wellington – the North Island is full of new stories, new products and new reasons to book.”
Kiwi North events for the rest of this week include:
- Tuesday 2 September – Sydney product managers met yesterday at a special event at Museum of Contemporary Art
- Wednesday 3 September – Melbourne frontliners event at Crowne Plaza
Each event will include product updates, networking and meeting one-on-one with tourism businesses, with opportunities to go in the draw to win flights, familiarisation visits and more.
Kiwi North is a partnership between 15 regional tourism organisations around the North Island. It includes Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, Northland Inc, Destination Hauraki Coromandel, Hamilton & Waikato Tourism, Tourism Bay of Plenty, RotoruaNZ, Tairawhiti Gisborne, Destination Great Lake Taupo, Visit Ruapehu, Venture Taranaki, Hawkes Bay Tourism, Whanganui and Partners, Central Economic Development Agency, Destination Wairarapa and WellingtonNZ.
Edited by Peter Needham
BIO:
With more than 35 years in the trenches of travel journalism, Peter Needham has filed stories from Fleet Street to Fiji and almost everywhere. As Managing Editor (Australasia) for Global Travel Media, he shapes the site’s industry coverage while continuing to write with the flair and authority honed over decades. Since turning freelance in 1993, Peter’s byline has graced mastheads ranging from the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review to Readers Digest and Qantas’ inflight magazines. He edited Inside Tourism for seven years, contributed a long-running “Travel Tales” column to Vacations & Travel, and even penned copy for Tourism Australia ahead of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. A Reuters, Guardian, and AAP veteran, Peter has travelled widely, from South American backpacking trails to a Saudi Arabian military hospital, collecting stories as only a true newspaperman can.
