Tourism industry conference 2006

26 May 2006

Tourism industry to meet in Wellington at combined conference

A significant tourism industry conference that aims to shape the future of tourism in New Zealand will take place in Wellington, August 21-24.

Two major annual tourism industry conferences are being united to create a key leadership event for the industry at the Wellington Town Hall.

The theme of the joint Tourism Industry-Inbound Tour Operators’ Council (ITOC) conference will be “Strengthening the present…developing the future”. It will focus on the mid-term update of the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010 which is being extended to set the industry’s direction through to 2015.

“This conference will address issues of deep importance to our future,” Tourism Industry Association (TIA) Chief Executive Fiona Luhrs says.

“The Strategy must be updated to take account of the new challenges facing the industry, such as a shortage of skilled workers, increasing fuel costs, greater use of technology and the impact on how visitors buy travel, slowing growth in visitor numbers and the need for greater capital investment.”

ITOC Chief Executive Paul Yeo says ITOC is delighted to bring its own annual conference under a national umbrella for this important occasion.

“To get the Strategy right needs input from as wide a cross-section of the industry as possible and bringing the two conferences together is the ideal solution,” he says.

TIA, along with the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism New Zealand, is responsible for leading progress on the Strategy update. The Wellington conference will provide a forum to debate key strategic issues with tourism business operators and other interested parties, and will be highly
interactive to give all delegates the opportunity to have their views and opinions heard.

The winners of the prestigious Tourism Industry Awards 2006 will be announced at a celebratory function at the Westpac St James Theatre on the evening of Wednesday 23 August.

Go to www.nztourismconference.co.nz for more conference details.

Delegates will be encouraged to get to know the funky destination that Wellington has become. Visit www.wellingtonnz.com

The Tourism Industry Conference is managed by TIA with support from Tourism New Zealand.

Key statistics about tourism:

Tourism is the world's fastest growing industry

New Zealand tourism arrivals have doubled in size since 1994 to 2.38 million

Forecast annual growth is 4.7% on average for at least the next five years

Tourism is New Zealand's single largest export sector and contributed $7.4 billion dollars to the economy in the year ended March 2004. That is 18.5% of exports

Domestic tourism contributes $9.8 billion to the economy each year

Tourism directly and indirectly employs 10 percent of the work force. That is one in 10 jobs in New Zealand.

Tourism represents 9.4% of gross domestic product and generates nearly $500 million in GST returns from international visitors each year. Tourism is the only export sector whose international clients pay GST.

ENDS

© Scoop Media