Tourism Accelerator launches to help startup founders re-shape the
tourism industry.

Wellington-based startup programme Lightning Lab has teamed up with Tourwriter , an
award-winning Kiwi tourism-tech company, to launch Tourism Accelerator 2020 . Set to commence in
October 2020, the programme focuses on helping startup founders who are designing solutions to
make travel better for travellers, suppliers, and the environment.

The programme, which is sponsored by Callaghan Innovation and Tourwriter, is a streamlined,
primarily-virtual version of the regular programme that had to be postponed due to the COVID-19
pandemic.

Underpinning the programme is a need for ‘better travel’. This means a shift away from what
Tourwriter co-CEO, Glenn Campbell calls ‘cookie cutter travel’. ‘You know, that kind of same-same
travel that’s easy to book, but seldom memorable in the way a well-researched itinerary can be, and
often results in over tourism’.

The Tourism Accelerator targets three impact areas for better travel: smarter travel matchmaking,
new financial solutions, and environmental guardianship.

Up to six ventures will be accepted into the four-month mentorship programme. Selected startups will
work closely with a large team of experienced mentors and investors who have built, advised, and
sold companies in the tourism sector. At the end of the programme, each venture will have the
opportunity to pitch for cash investment from investors, underwritten to the value of $100,000.

Applications are now open and close on the 30 September 2020. The programme commences on 29
October and finishes on 19 February 2021.

For more information, visit: lightninglab.co.nz/tourism
For comment, high-res photos, or interviews, please contact:
Luke Ball
GM Lightning Lab
Creative HQ
luke.ball@creativehq.co.nz | 027 936 0026

Weddings take a leap forward at Ziptrek Ecotours in Queenstown

Wedding season has arrived at award winning company Ziptrek Ecotours as they launch their zipline
accessed treehouses as an outdoor venue, suited for small intimate weddings. This move falls in behind
a trend for elopements as fresh air and small groups becomes the celebratory norm throughout the
country.

Ziptrek’s beautifully crafted and generous treehouses make the perfect open plan venue for the happy
couple to take their vows surrounded by a small group of friends and family in a venue that captures the
spontaneity. Intimate group weddings are taking off, often due to the challenges with friends and family
unable to join in a travel restricted world, so the opportunity to get married in a truly unique setting, in
what is arguably one of the most picturesque towns in NZ, Queenstown (and already a very popular
wedding destination) can be a reality.

“You don’t even have to go far to capture some stunning photos to remember your special day forever,
as our treehouses are the perfect space to capture those unique wedding shots” says Nicky Busst,
Marketing & Sales Manager for Ziptrek Ecotours in Queenstown. “The scale of our treehouses with the
most incredible view of Lake Wakatipu & The Remarkables leaves you at a loss for words and adds to
the excitement and special meaning of the day” says Busst.

If the day’s nerves and excitement isn’t quite enough, you can take it to new heights with an adrenaline
filled leap of faith into your marriage with the option of a “Kereru jump” post nuptials or even to
conclude them.

Since COVID19 Ziptrek Ecotours utilizes new market opportunities as an outdoor venue to capture
unique events and repeat visitation. In May for NZ Music month Ziptrek launched “Treehouse Sessions”,
a sold out event, where local artists performed live music on the treehouse decks whilst guests zipped
between them on ziplines. There are plans to continue various style of events from spring, recognizing
more broader markets and local community groups such as the arts, culture and performance scenes.

Stay tuned for more.

For further media information or imagery, please contact Nicky Busst at nbusst@ziptrek.com / 027 721
9017

For bookings, please contact Kenny at salesnz@ziptrek.com / 021 946 160

The Rees Hotel Queenstown Milks New Sustainability Initiative
To Reduce 13,000 Bottles from NZ’s Plastic Waste

Leading by example, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Rees Hotel Queenstown has upheld their staunch commitment to the environment by launching a new sustainability initiative to reduce plastic waste. The Hotel is proud to announce that their milk will now be supplied by Windy Ridge Farm in reusable and recyclable glass bottles, which will save over 13,000 plastic bottles from going to landfill each year.

The Rees Hotel tracked how many 300ml and 2L plastic bottles they bought from April 2019 to March 2020 and discovered that they had used over 13,000 plastic bottles in just one year. With 1.76 billion plastic containers sent to landfill by New Zealanders each year, The Rees Hotel is proud to again be an industry leader, dedicated to substantially reducing their plastic waste with this one valuable new, local partnership.

Mark Rose, CEO and general manager of The Rees Hotel said, “We are proud to demonstrate that our commitment to sustainability across all our operations continues even in the toughest of times for our industry

Saving 13,000 plastic bottles from landfill per year is an enormous achievement and we are thrilled to be able to undertake this with our like-minded partner, local milk supplier Windy Ridge Farm. We will continue to strive to make a difference for ongoing sustainability with new initiatives through partnerships with environmentally-conscious businesses like our own,” Mr Rose continued.

The Rees Hotel Queenstown Wins 2020 Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award four years in a row

The Rees Hotel is pleased to announce it has been recognised as a 2020 Travellers’ Choice award-winner. Based on a full year of Tripadvisor reviews, prior to any changes caused by the pandemic, award winners are known for consistently receiving great traveller feedback, placing them in the top 10% of hospitality businesses around the globe.

CEO Mark Rose said, “We are thrilled to again have the level of excellence our hotel continually strives for be recognised by travellers worldwide, with this prestigious award. It is a reflection on the commitment of our team and a credit to their outstanding achievements on a daily basis.”

Capstone Hotel Management secures the management of Delamore Lodge on Waiheke Island.

New Zealand owned Capstone Hotels & Resorts trading as Capstone Hotel Management have been appointed as the Management Company for Delamore Lodge located on Waiheke Island, following its recent sale.
Capstone Managing Director Clare Davies says that the sale completed on 31 July.
Delamore Lodge has secured its position as a premium Lodge offering privacy, tranquillity, and luxury to guests from around the world.

Moulded around the hillside to resemble the shape of a Maori fishhook, Delamore Lodge offers supreme cliff top views and unsurpassed luxury service. Every aspect of the property has been developed with the landscape and vistas in mind featuring four guest suites and a luxury apartment, day spa services, several dining areas, guest lounge, infinity pool, jacuzzi and an events space.

Ms Davies says “we are absolutely thrilled to be joining the new owners of Delamore Lodge to continue on the journey of offering a boutique Lodge experience with a reputation of the highest standards of guest experience delivery. We understand the challenges that the current global situation places on the accommodation sector and look forward to welcoming more New Zealanders seeking a luxurious getaway this year”.
Reservation requests and contact details for the Lodge remain the same with a number of the existing staff continuing in their roles.

Capstone Hotel Management have properties located throughout New Zealand.

Key Contacts:
For all media enquiries contact:
Clare Davies Managing Director clare@capstonehotels.co.nz
For all trade & marketing enquiries contact:
Nona Jackson Director of Sales & Marketing nona@capstonehotels.co.nz

ENDS

Government urged to reconsider funding decision for Inbound Tour Operators

The Tourism Export Council of New Zealand has urged the Government and decision makers to reconsider
their decision to not fund any Inbound Tour Operators through the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection
Programme grants programme.

“We acknowledge the Government has done its best to provide support for some parts of the wider
tourism sector,” says Chief Executive Lynda Keene.

“But it was hugely frustrating to be informed by officials at the last minute that there will be no grant
funding made available for Inbound Tour Operators (ITOs). The decision to offer loans will not help our
members, as they have no income coming in for 18 months.”

“On behalf of our members, we urge the Government and decision makers to reconsider this decision.
Failure to do so will lead to a huge loss in Intellectual Property across the sector and leave us unable to
support local operators once borders re-open.”

“Our inbound members are an integral part of the tourism sector. They link offshore travellers and agents
with onshore product suppliers and will be a vital element to recovery when borders re-open.”

Information provided by Tourism NZ through its Research and Insights team suggests that 55% of all
international visitors pre-COVID were booked through trade (offshore) and Inbound Tour Operators in New
Zealand which equates to $9.46bn of $17.2bn that international tourism export receipts earned for the
New Zealand economy.

Ms Keene says the decision by Government to not provide Strategic Tourism grant funding to ITOs was
completely unexpected. We are a little perplexed that Inbound Tour Operators are not considered to be
strategic tourism assets considering the Government’s heightened emphasis on health and safety and
contact tracing. Inbound Tour Operators have always (pre-COVID) being able to trace every client/visitor
that is travelling around NZ of every hour of every day. Tourism NZ’s own research and insights supports
the enhanced and expected role that Inbound Tour Operators will play in the future when visitors return to
NZ and that Inbounds will be crucial to delivering on a visitor experience that meets new expectations
under a post-COVID environment.

“Operators were led to believe they would be eligible to receive grants through this process. We are
confused why this decision to offer loans instead of grants has been made.”

Ms Keene says TECNZ is keen to learn more about how the proposed Government-backed loan scheme will
work for operators. No business can forecast or plan for 18 months with no revenue. COVID-19 is an
unprecedented event.

“Our members have done all they can to keep their businesses afloat over the past six months in the
expectation that some Government funding would be made available. The complete lack of support for this
part of the sector means many of these companies will now shut down completely.

“We recognise that not every job and business can be saved, but the Government and the wider industry
need to recognise the important role played by Inbound Tour Operators.

“Maintaining the intellectual property and commercial business to business relationships that Inbound Tour
Operators have with offshore tour wholesalers is critical for the wider sector and rebound of NZ’s economic
recovery.

“That is why we applied on behalf of our members to the Government’s Strategic Tourism Assets
Protection Programme to support them through the COVID disruption. Sadly it appears we were misguided
that we did not meet the criteria, but it is extremely disappointing that not a single Inbound Tour Operator
will receive any grant funding either.

We are keen to discuss this further with Ministers of the Tourism Ministers Recovery Group. The
opportunity to share with Ministers or MBIE staff the critical and strategic role that Inbound Tour Operators
play in generating $17.2bn of NZ’s international tourism export earnings is vital to their survival ” says
Lynda Keene.

For more information please contact:
Lynda Keene, Chief Executive
Tourism Export Council of NZ
027 664 4836

Destinate NZ is a full service tourism marketing consultancy offering real world advice to tourism businesses. We have access to a collective of very experienced tourism professionals and can provide advice around brand development, sales & marketing strategies, communications plans and more. Talk to us today about how we might be able to help you.

‘Opportunity in uncertainty’ workshop for YoungTEC leaders

YoungTEC aims to tackle the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic by providing an exciting new development opportunity for young tourism leaders.

The workshop named ‘Opportunity in uncertainty’, has been developed in partnership with The Icehouse and registrations will be open exclusively to YoungTEC members. The purpose of this initiative is to help young leaders in tourism build their capability and confidence to lead. The workshop will include frameworks and tools to help participants find opportunities to drive the recovery journey within their own team and company.

The one day event will be held on 23 September at The Icehouse homebase in Auckland.

The Icehouse, Director of Growth, Liz Wotherspoon says “We are delighted to be working with YoungTEC again and are keen to help tourism businesses in any way that we can during these challenging and uncertain times. It is great to see the strength of young leadership and talent shining through given how critical this will be as the industry recovers and thrives”.

The workshop will provide a much desired chance for YoungTEC members to gather, shake hands, gain insight and share experiences at this face-to-face event.

YoungTEC’s Chair Zac Watson says ‘we are absolutely delighted to be partnering again with the exceptional team at The Icehouse, and are extremely grateful to the Hospitality Training Trust for aiding us in making this initiative a reality in 2020. As a strong advocate of tourism as a career, we are proud to provide additional support for young people to build resilience and confidence especially during this unprecedented time.’

YoungTEC are appreciative to both The Icehouse and the Hospitality Training Trust for their continued support.

Registrations for the Opportunity in uncertainty will open Monday 27 July 2020. The exclusive workshop registrations are based on a first come, first served basis for YoungTEC members. For further information contact the YoungTEC team via email young@tourismexportcouncil.org.nz.

ENDS.

For more information please contact:

Zac Watson – YoungTEC Chair

zac.watson@aucklandnz.com

GCH Aviation has again boosted its investment in tourism infrastructure with the purchase of Tasman Helicopters in Nelson.

GCH Aviation Group Chief Executive, Andrew Currie says the purchase of Tasman Helicopters expands the group’s scenic and commercial aviation services across New Zealand and the Pacific, establishing it as one of New Zealand’s major tourism aviation providers.

The process of the purchase of Tasman Helicopters started before the COVID19 situation but we continued as we see it as an important part of our premium tourism offering going forward. GCH Aviation has a diversified portfolio of aviation businesses which has meant we can still look for opportunities to strengthen our commercial and tourism offering.\

We have our sights firmly fixed on the premium tourism sector. “We want to ensure our clients are given the very best experience from the minute they arrive in the country either by their own private jets or ours to when they get out to explore New Zealand.”

Nelson is a beautiful part of the South Island and boasts a spectacular coastal environment, a selection of some of the best luxury lodges in the top of the South Island and access to the Abel Tasman National Park.
Logan Moore, who previously owned Tasman Helicopters will stay on with GCH Aviation and the business will still run under the Tasman Helicopters brand. We are delighted to add Logan’s tourism expertise to our business,” said Andrew.

The GCH Aviation Group already has a significant sized aviation base in Nelson which already has commercial helicopters, an Air Rescue helicopter as well as a New Zealand Flying Doctor air ambulance base. Tasman Helicopters will be an addition to this operation, working from the same office.

The purchase of Tasman helicopters adds to the GCH Aviation tourism portfolio which has been growing steadily in the past few years. The Group purchased Kaikoura Helicopters last year and the company has other helicopter operations in Christchurch, Greymouth, Wellington, Fiji and Vanuatu. The GCH Aviation Group also includes certified flight training, air rescue and air ambulance operations based at their HQ in Christchurch.

The group’s 9,000 sqm Christchurch Headquarter has direct access to the Christchurch Airport runway, and dedicated helipads. It includes Christchurch’s first 24 hour full-service jet centre to the
South Island’s rapidly growing corporate aviation market, with hangar parking and overnight
facilities for jets, a private terminal, ground handling, catering, plus Ministry of Primary Industry and
Customs services and has just added a Bombardier Challenger 604, 10 seat private charter jet to its
fleet.

Established in 1983, GCH Aviation is the only company to hold the prestigious Helicopter Association
of New Zealand Diamond Safety Award for 30+ years continuous service without injury or accident
to self, passengers or crew. It also holds a 100% Pure New Zealand Qualmark Gold endorsement and
is the only NZ Aviation company to be an approved Virtuoso luxury network supplier.

ENDS

Website: http://www.gchaviation.com/
For further information and images, please contact:
Caroline Blanchfield
Group Marketing Manager
GCH Aviation
Caroline.blanchfield@gchaviation.com
+64 21914188

CPG Hotels major domestic tourism investment

As the country’s largest privately-owned hotel group, CPG Hotels, like the rest of the tourism sector, has experienced less than full occupancy rates and had to reduce its services and dining arm during Levels 4 and 3 of the Covid-19 nationwide lockdown.

It also meant the group, owned by the Auckland-based Pandey family, had to press pause on the creation and launch of a bold new luxury boutique hotel brand with a projected investment of $100m. The plan to relaunch six hotels nationwide in Dunedin, Christchurch, Picton, Wellington and Auckland within 18 months from now is already well advanced.

However, the projected losses as a result of the pandemic has not dented the confidence of CPG Hotel head Prakash Pandey in the New Zealand economy. The group is putting the finishing touches on the transformation of Dunedin’s heritage Wains Hotel into luxury boutique five-star accommodation, opening in October.

“We resumed the refit and relaunch of Wains with renewed focus as soon as we were able. We are also adding to our property portfolio. We want to do our bit in part to help with the country’s economic recovery and aim to buy from within and source from local suppliers. We’re not looking anywhere offshore for the foreseeable future,” says Prakash Pandey.

The group has also fast-tracked another redevelopment of the central Auckland backpackers Fat Camel on Fort Street into a premium boutique hotel. The hotel, which will epitomise affordable luxury and an opportunity for guests to stay their way will open later this year. In fact, confidence in the emergence of the strong domestic tourism market makes the progressive purchase earlier this year of a beautifully turned out Grey Lynn manor house, that has been transformed into a true five-star boutique experience, more than a happy coincidence.

“The new boutique brand will bring next-level luxury to the domestic market. We want to become leaders in delivering the perfect experience that flawlessly integrates the latest technology with impeccable service and modern luxury.”

The group’s Hotel Grand Windsor was in the news late last year for winning the prestigious World’s Best New Hotel in the Boutique Hotel Awards from more than 300 entries across 80 countries.

For more information or high-res images please contact Erin McKenzie, erin@lassoo.co.nz