Hotel conference focusing on regional growth

Hotel conference focusing on regional growth

How to better share the benefits of New Zealand’s tourism boom with the regions will be a big focus of this year’s New Zealand Hotel Industry Conference.

Registrations for the conference, in Auckland on 4-5 July, open today at www.nzhotelconference.com

The conference, the largest and most important annual event dedicated to New Zealand’s hotel sector, is co-hosted by Tourism Industry Aotearoa and Horwath HTL Ltd. It is attended by managers and stakeholders in the New Zealand hotel sector. Last year’s conference attracted over 350 delegates, including hotel managers, investors, developers, hotel chains, government agencies, hotel industry consultants, sponsors and exhibitors.

“The programme is focusing strongly on how we can encourage more growth in the regions. It’s about attracting high value visitors to spend more time and money off the beaten track, which in turn makes regional hotel developments more attractive to investors,” TIA Hotel Sector Manager Sally Attfield says.

Confirmed speakers include Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon, Tourism Holdings Ltd Chief Executive Grant Webster and Westpac Chief Economist Dominick Stephens.

High calibre speakers will also be looking at how convention centres fit into regional tourism strategies, and the challenges of finding good staff in less populated areas.

The regional focus continues into the New Zealand Hotel Industry Awards 2018 with a new award this year – Regional Employee of the Year, which will be awarded to the best operational employee working in a hotel not located in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington or Queenstown. Entries for the Awards are now open atwww.nzhotelconference.com

Horwath HTL Director Stephen Hamilton says it’s imperative that the economic benefits of the tourism boom are shared with regional New Zealand.

“Tourism supports businesses and jobs across the country, often in regions where few other opportunities exist. The hotel sector, in particular, offers a huge range of career prospects, and requirements for suppliers and support services,” he says.

The New Zealand Hotel Industry Conference takes place over two days, with Wednesday 4 July devoted to the Hotel, Technology and Property Forums. These sessions are designed for delegates to learn about operational, technology, performance and investment topics for the hotel industry.

The Forums are offered free of charge for those whose company has delegates registered to attend the plenary session on Thursday 5 July. Others must pay a small registration fee.

“We’ll be announcing more speakers shortly, but we recommend that people register as early as possible. The conference has been sold out for two of the past three years and we expect demand to be high again this year,” Ms Attfield says.
Go to www.nzhotelconference.com for more information and to register.

About the co-hosts

TIA Hotel Sector
TIA’s hotel sector represents the interests of nearly 170 members throughout New Zealand, including international chains, large independent and privately owned hotels. TIA hotel sector members employ over 11,000 staff nationally, with annual revenues of more than $1.47 billion.

TIA’s hotel members contribute to a monthly performance survey conducted by The Fresh Information Company.

Horwath HTL
Horwath HTL Limited is a consulting firm specialising in the hotel, tourism and leisure industries, providing specialist consulting services to a wide range of private sector clients and public sector stakeholders including developers, investors, funders, owners and operators. Horwath HTL is affiliated with Crowe Horwath International, a network of more than 140 independent accounting and advisory services firms with 560 offices in more than 100 countries.

Platinum Sponsor
The conference Platinum Sponsor is Scenic Hotel Group.

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