Biggest tourism event of the year starts today – TRENZ 2018

Chris Roberts - Chief Executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa

Around 1500 international and New Zealand delegates have arrived in Dunedin to attend TRENZ 2018 (7-10 May), the tourism industry’s annual showcase which is worth tens of millions of dollars to the country.

TRENZ is the $36 billion tourism industry’s biggest and most influential trade event. It has attracted hundreds of international travel and tourism marketers to negotiate new business deals with several hundred leading New Zealand tourism operators.

“This year we have 387 buyers from 27 markets, which range from traditional visitor markets like Australia, the USA, UK and Japan to newer, emerging visitor markets, such as Brazil and the Philippines,” says Chris Roberts, Chief Executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa, which organises and manages TRENZ.

He says TRENZ is ‘business speed dating’.

“These buyers are the big behind-the-scenes players who shape how international visitors experience New Zealand. Over the next three days, they will hold more than 16,500 15-minute meetings with the tourism operators, which will result in tens of millions of dollars’ worth of new business for the country’s tourism industry.

“The buyers have travelled here to discover new and exciting tourism products and experiences that they can sell to consumers in their home markets, and to strengthen existing relationships.

“These buyers are not small-fry. More than a quarter of buyers at last year’s TRENZ sent more than 5000 visitors to New Zealand every year, and 64% expected to persuade their clients to stay longer and spend more in New Zealand because of the deals and discoveries they made at TRENZ.”

TRENZ 2018, which is being held at the Edgar Centre, will itself inject an estimated $2 million into the local economy. 1500 delegates will be housed, fed and entertained in the city and hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent in staging the event, says Mr Roberts.

“The buyers will wander around the floor of the Edgar Centre amidst hundreds of stalls set up by our innovative New Zealand tourism operators. They will reconnect with old contacts and encounter new businesses the likes of which they’ve never heard of — such as a Steampunk museum, or a 3D Trick Art Gallery on the same property as a buffet restaurant and sheep farm. They will hear from industry leaders in our Lunch Speaker series. And then they will be escorted out into Dunedin and its surrounds, where they will be delighted by the beauty of the city and some top-notch Otago cuisine,” says Mr Roberts.

“TRENZ is an invaluable opportunity for the host regions of Dunedin, Waitaki and Southland to raise their profile with international buyers, and the more than 30 international and domestic media who will attend this year’s event.

“It’s also awesome that we’re able to bring so many visitors to Dunedin in May, in what is usually a quieter time of year. Having more visitor activity in the off-peak seasons and in the regions are key industry goals.”

About TRENZ www.trenz.co.nz

TRENZ brings together about 300 New Zealand tourism operators (Sellers) with targeted international travel and tourism buyers and media from New Zealand’s key established and emerging tourism markets. The event directly helps to grow New Zealand’s $36 billion tourism industry. Hosted for the first time by Dunedin in partnership with Waitaki and Southland, TRENZ 2018 is being held at The Edgar Centre, 116 Portsmouth Drive, Dunedin, 7-10 May. Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) manages TRENZ on behalf of the Tourism Industry New Zealand Trust. TRENZ is supported by Tourism New Zealand, Air New Zealand, Enterprise Dunedin in partnership with Tourism Waitaki and Venture Southland, Auckland Airport, Accor Hotels, Scenic Hotel Group, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Christchurch Airport, Tranzit Group and The Great Journeys of New Zealand.

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