12 May 2017 Media Release
Dunedin to host TRENZ for the first time
TRENZ, New Zealand’s biggest annual international tourism showcase, will be held in Dunedin for the first time in 2018,
Tourism Industry Aotearoa announced today.
“We are delighted that Dunedin, in partnership with Southland and Waitaki, will be our host region for 2018, the first
time TRENZ has returned to the South Island since 2012,” says Mr Roberts, Chief Executive of TIA which manages the
event.
“TRENZ 2018 will bring up to 1200 international travel and tourism buyers, media and New Zealand tourism operators to
Dunedin and will be one of the largest events for the city in the last decade,” says Mr Roberts.
“At what is traditionally a quiet time for local Dunedin tourism businesses, TRENZ 2018 will inject several million
dollars into the city’s economy, including accommodation, transport, meals, functions and the hundreds of thousands of
dollars spent staging the event.
Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says today’s announcement is a major coup for the city and the wider region.
“As well as the direct economic benefit of hosting such a big event, TRENZ 2018 is a fantastic opportunity to showcase
our world class tourism offerings to key global travel, trade and media influencers and allow them to experience all of
it first-hand,” says Mr Cull.
“This in turn has the potential to even further boost the already growing number of international visitors to our city.”
Mr Cull says hosting TRENZ 2018 also highlights Dunedin’s ability to successfully deliver large scale business events
and solidifies its position as one of New Zealand’s top business event destinations.
Mr Roberts says the annual event has been run since the 1960s and 2018 will be the first time TRENZ is hosted outside of
Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch or Queenstown.
“Bringing TRENZ to Dunedin in 2018 will lead to an unforgettable experience for international and New Zealand delegates
and will help support the $35 billion tourism industry’s goal of encouraging regional dispersal.
“The financial benefits of hosting TRENZ can be felt for many years. The Buyers will discover first-hand how much
Dunedin has to offer, which will help secure the city and the host regions’ place on future travel itineraries.”
Today’s announcement was made on the final day of a very successful TRENZ 2017 which took place at The Cloud and Shed 10
on Auckland’s waterfront this week.
KEY FACTS
• Tourism in New Zealand is a $95 million per day industry. Tourism delivers around $40 million in foreign exchange to
the New Zealand economy each day of the year. Domestic tourism contributes another $55 million in economic activity
every day.
• Tourism is New Zealand’s biggest export earner, contributing $14.5 billion or 20.7% of New Zealand’s foreign exchange
earnings (year ended March 2016).
• 13.2% of the total number of people employed in New Zealand work directly or indirectly in tourism. That means 332,322
people are working in the visitor economy.
• The Tourism 2025 growth framework has a goal of growing total tourism revenue to $41 billion a year by 2025.
Visit www.tia.org.nz for more information