New Zealand a Hot Destination for South and South East Tourists

Potential travelers from South and South East Asia looking for inspiration for their next holiday to New Zealand have come in droves to the recent consumer travel shows throughout the region.
“In the last six weeks we have attended three key travel shows, promoting destination New Zealand to large numbers of potential visitors and engaged travel sellers,” says Mischa Mannix-Opie, Regional Manager South and South East Asia.

The year was kicked-off with South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) in New Delhi 16-18 January, followed by the Thai International Travel Fair (TITF) in Bangkok 14-17 February and the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) in Singapore 22-24 February. A combination of trade and consumer focused sales days are offered across the three shows.

“The shows provide the opportunity to connect with a volume of potential holiday makers, and trade that we wouldn’t normally reach in such a condensed time span – and the results speak for themselves.” says Mischa.

“At SATTE more than 350 of the 7,500 qualified buyers and sellers came to the New Zealand booth for information on training, online module courses, Kiwi Specialist courses and information on New Zealand.

“Then at NATAS, with its numerous incentives aimed to encourage attendees to purchase at the show, the interest in New Zealand was more immediate – with travel agencies reporting at least 215 holiday bookings to New Zealand.”

This year NATAS attracted approximately 53,000 attendees, achieving an estimated total sales of SGD 85-90 million (NZ $82-87 million) on travel products and services over the three days.

To ensure a strong presence at each of the shows, Tourism New Zealand was accompanied by Christchurch Canterbury Tourism and Aoraki Mt Cook Alpine Village at NATAS, and inbound travel operator General Travel at SATTE and TITF, while Agrodome attended TITF.

Commenting on the show, Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism said they were impressed with the quality of attendees and felt they had gained good exposure from the show.

“We spoke with people who were serious about visiting, while others had already booked and were after guidance on where to go and what to do. This enabled us to provide good detail to ensure they get the most from their trip,” said Julia Panfilo, Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism Trade Marketing Manager.

Tourism New Zealand will attend a further two shows in the region – with MATTA in Kuala Lumpur 15-18 March and ASTINDO Travel Fair in Jakarta 22-24 March.

“This will be the first time that Tourism New Zealand will exhibit at ASTINDO, one of the biggest tourism destination expos in Indonesia, in support of the potential launch of Garuda Indonesia services later in the year alongside the return of the Air New Zealand seasonal service which starts again in June.

“At MATTA, Indonesia’s largest consumer travel show which runs twice a year, we will be promoting special travel packages from the trade and airlines to maximise direct sales to potential visitors.