For over 20 years Jet Park Hotels has been dedicated to providing excellent service and genuine Kiwi hospitality to our guests. We are passionate about New Zealand and ensuring that every guest who steps through our doors has the best experience possible.

While our guests are one of our greatest joys, our staff are one of our greatest assets. The outstanding individuals who make up the Jet Park team work tirelessly every day to share their joys and their passions, delivering the very best care and service to our guests and to each other.

Over the years, we have grown from a single hotel in Auckland Airport to a broader family of hotels around New Zealand- namely in Hamilton Airport and Rotorua City. Here at Jet Park, we are a family… an extended family that includes not only our staff but also our guests. We pride ourselves on making everyone feel welcome and hope that you find a home within our walls.

New Year’s Resolution Draws the Line Against Predators, The Rees Joins the ‘Frankton Traps’ Family in 2020

The Rees Hotel as part of its ongoing company-wide commitment to sustainability and the environment has joined the newest addition to the local urban trapping movement family.

It’s now a funder of the ‘Frankton Traps’ group – an extension to the burgeoning trapping line drawn around Lake Wakatipu.

The rollout is part of a wider Queenstown predator free project run by the Wakatipu Wildlife Trust.

As part of its sponsorship, the luxury lakefront property has helped install five brand new DOC200 traps in the last twenty four hours. Ultimately 50 will be deployed around the track.

“We wanted to build on ways to restore our natural environment. I reached out to the Trust to see how we could help. Together we’ll achieve such a positive impact by regenerating the local bird population and forest through this initiative,” says Katharina Graf, Human Resources Manager at The Rees Hotel.

The traps will target stoats and rats that prey on the local native bird population. They’ll be cleared fortnightly by a team of 20 community volunteers.

Each wooden box is screwed shut, opened only with the correct screwdriver. No poison is contained in the discretely hidden traps that meet all the safety requirements of Queenstown Lakes District Council.

Graf says the traps are humane and compliant with standards set by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC). While being big enough to let predator targets in, they’re small enough to exclude domestic animals.

“Pets can’t physically fit into the tiny hole at the entrance to the trap. Nor fit in the next cavity which requires turning a corner,” she says.

Dawn Palmer, an Ecologist and Environmental Consultant for the Trust says, “what I’ve noticed with this predator free movement is it’s another reason for the community to come together with a common goal towards protecting their back yard.”

“When you pair trapping up with the restoration of plants which The Rees has also been doing, the birds come back. We’re going to see more and more of them.”

Internationally The Rees has been recognised by Skål, part of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation for its responsible tourism practices.

Last year for the third time running, it retained another 5 Star Grade – Hotel Qualmark and Gold Tourism Business Sustainability Award.

ENDS

For media enquiries contact:

Sarah Sparks

MarkomPR Ltd

Mobile: 021 318813

Email: sarah.sparks@markompr.com

Queenstown tourism operator targets premium visitor market with business growth

A well-established Queenstown tour operator is taking a new direction in response to changes in overseas markets and dynamics.

Alpine Luxury Tours, based in Queenstown, is a family-owned and operated business with family connections to Queenstown and the wider Otago region dating back nearly 60 years.

Founder Lee Saunders has a passion for showing people the New Zealand he knows and loves, and that’s evident to all who meet him.

Having grown up in and around Queenstown, he knows the region like the back of his hand, and prides himself on enabling his guests to experience the best of New Zealand in the most private way.

“We have always been about authentic, exclusive experiences thanks to the key relationships we’ve built up over the years,” he says.

“Because of our local connections we have exclusive access to areas where no other companies set foot. If a guest wants to exclusively book out a popular local restaurant, or visit somewhere and not see another soul, then we’re the ones to make it happen.

“We’re seeing an increase in the FIT premium visitor market which doesn’t show any signs of slowing down soon, so we’ve re-branded as Alpine Luxury Tours to focus on the key emerging markets of South East Asia and to cater for Western market growth.”

Mr Saunders says New Zealand now has a high standard of suppliers and partners enabling his company to work consistently at the premium end of the market, a far cry from stale, repetitive itineraries.

“Thanks to these partners we can attract business to superb exclusive locations and know that they will have a consistently outstanding experience at every level.”

The business started operating in 2011 and Lee says growth has been “very rapid”.

“It’s hard work but very rewarding, and working with long-term guides who also have great relationships and inside knowledge means we can customise any adventure at a moment’s notice, and often do!”

Alpine Luxury Tours specialises in privately-guided day experiences for sightseeing, private wine experiences, and hiking or heli-hiking and heli-experiences to some of the most unique, stunning and exclusive parts of Queenstown, Fiordland and Mount Cook National Park.

For further media information or high-res imagery please contact:

Fiona Woodham

Southern PR

E: Fiona@southernpr.co.nz

M: 0274 313 270

Kiwi kids are asking New Zealanders and our international visitors to look after our home in a new Tiaki campaign.

The summer campaign is the latest phase of the Tiaki – Care for New Zealand initiative which actively encourages all travellers to act as guardians of Aotearoa. It encourages care for land, sea and nature, travelling with an open heart and mind, considering others and respecting culture.

The assets for the new campaign will be available for you to download and use in Tourism New Zealand’s visual library

Carbon Free Ziplining is now official at Ziptrek Ecotours – Queenstown

Queenstown’s Ziptrek Ecotours is stoked to be celebrating Christmas early with the announcement it’s the first Queenstown company to achieve Zero Carbon Business for 2019.

The news follows an independent assessment of Ziptrek’s last financial year by Ekos, a non-profit enterprise developing carbon projects to grow and protect indigenous forests in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

This end of year achievement flows into the company’s 2020 plan as it transforms into a Future-Fit business, a global and open-sourced sustainability framework for business. Future-Fit measures Ziptrek’s capacity to be environmentally restorative, economically inclusive and socially just, relating back to the UN Development Goals.

Celebrating a decade in business, Ziptrek Ecotours is already renowned as a pioneering eco-tourism company founded on strong principles of sustainability and conservation for which it has won many awards.

This latest achievement follows a year of measuring and offsetting the carbon footprint of its business operations with certified carbon credits, in this case contributing to the Rarakau Rainforest Conservation Project in Southland.

The project is the closest of its kind currently available to Queenstown businesses, and is used for conservation management and landowner community development in Southland.

Ziptrek is working with Ekos to support a project closer to home in 2020.

To help develop its carbon performance, Ziptrek has been ensuring all travel on flights with Air New Zealand are offset in line with their FlyNeutral carbon offset programme. It has also switched to electricity retailer Ecotricity which is 49% community owned, 100% renewable and also certified carbon neutral, to further increase its ‘green’ partnerships.

The 5000-plus trees, shrubs and grasses that the company has planted over the past ten years on its zipline site at Gondola Hill or around the local area, thanks to the Wakatipu Reforestation Trust, are a bonus.

“They’re not included in this scientific calculation as they’re not certified for carbon, but in our mind they’re a huge bonus for the birds, bugs and biosphere in our local context,” says Ziptrek Ecotours company director Trent Yeo.

“We’re looking closely at other ways to continue to reduce our carbon emissions, such as reducing the need to travel in the first instance.

“We’re undertaking webinar training sessions rather than travelling to certain events and we reward our staff for biking to work rather than driving.

“For Ziptrek, this is an additional layer of robustness to what we’ve been doing for the past ten years, and our customers know their zipline adventure in Queenstown will be carbon free.

“As well as being the first company in Queenstown to achieve Zero Carbon, we will be the second business in New Zealand to become Future-Fit certified, and do so behind tourism giant Tourism Holdings Limited, high five to them,” says Trent.

To celebrate its zero carbon status, Ziptrek has produced a T-shirt with a graphic created by Ed Hawkins, depicting the rate of warming in different countries around the world from 1901 to 2018.

The ‘Show Your Stripes With Ziptrek’ T-shirt shows the temperature variation of Aotearoa over time and is locally-printed in Queenstown on organic cotton.

For further media information please contact:

Fiona Woodham

Southern PR

E: fiona@southernpr.co.nz

M: 0274 313 270

Full speed ahead for Millbrook Resort’s latest golf and housing development

Five years of planning is coming to fruition for Queenstown’s award-winning Millbrook Resort, developing a new golf course complemented by two high-end residential neighbourhoods.

Back in 2014 the Overseas Investment Office approved Millbrook’s purchase of 67 hectares of the former Dalgleish Farm land on its western boundary.

Seventeen months after site clearance started on the $50m development now known as Mill Farm, it’s full speed ahead as the course takes shape and building platforms are developed for 42 building sites — averaging around 2000m2– on two distinct sites within the farm.

A large upper plateau called The Grand Terrace is home to 24 sites, situated among undulating hills and natural rock formations with outstanding panoramic views over fairways and pastoral lands to the mountains that ring the famed Wakatipu Basin.

Nestled on the lower elevation, Willow Glen sites are taking shape alongside tees and fairways of nine new holes that will form part of the re-designed Coronet 18 course.

They boast north-facing outlooks over an enhanced Mill Stream which has been widened to create larger waterways bounded by wildlife zones.

Willow Glen and The Grand Terrace are surrounded by over 20 hectares of working farmland.

Work is nearing completion on rebuilding the historic woolshed which has been moved from its original location to a paddock adjoining Malaghans Road, on the northern boundary of the farm.

An historic cottage on the site will be restored and enhanced with sympathetic additions connected to this original stone cottage, which will eventually be for sale as part of a trophy site.

The golf course will be fully ‘sown out’ by the end of January next year, with cart path construction and bunkers filled during the grow-in phase before being playable by Spring 2021.

Following work to relocate the original Arrow Irrigation Scheme pipework which originally ran across the land, a new irrigation lake has been beautifully integrated into the course layout.

It is sensationally picturesque, with a jetty jutting out into the water that will be a photographer’s dream.

The new course boasts what Millbrook believes to be the highest commercial golf tee in the country at 480m above sea level.

With summer underway there are around 40 contractors on site on any given day, and Millbrook Director of Property and Development Ben O’Malley says it’s “thrilling” to see just how quickly Mill Farm is coming to life.

“When it’s something we’ve envisioned for this long, it’s extremely rewarding to see it take shape and become a reality,” he says.

“The design of the course plays through impressive ice-sculptured canyons and valleys, transitioning through a grazed paddock before returning alongside Mill Stream.

The typology of the land and clever design means that on many of the holes, houses are hidden from view.

All building platforms have been thoughtfully integrated so that each has a unique view over outstanding tee, fairways, mountain or rural views, or all of the above!”

The new development will add nine new golf holes to Millbrook’s current world-class 27-hole offering, meaning two full 18-hole courses will operate when it opens – the Coronet and the Remarkables courses.

The new development will retain a rural, agrarian feel thanks to the rustic open farm areas scattered around the course, including the high hillocks that form a natural western geographical ‘end point’.

Development of Mill Farm is the latest chapter in an ongoing success story of golf course and property development for Millbrook Resort.

While Mill Farm properties are not yet being marketed, Millbrook recorded total property sales of $45m for its financial year ending September 30 2019.

Sales of the Residences On Dalgleish have been outstanding.

The collection of five magnificent homes masterfully designed by Mason and Wales Architects is adjacent to the green expanses of the fourth and seventh fairways of the current Coronet Nine.

Of the three currently under construction, two have sold, one for a Millbrook record of $5.45million.

The third is being developed as a show home expected to open in March next year, the first in show home over 12 months.

The Frontiers, a home and land release of eight properties on Ploughmans and Wheatsheaf lanes, have also sold well this year, with six sold off the plans.

Just nine titled land-only parcels remain available at Fairway Heights and Fairway Crest with some magnificent homes being constructed on those already sold.

“It’s rewarding to see continued investment in Millbrook and our way of life by purchasers, and our earliest indications are that Mill Farm will be highly sought-after when it comes to market in autumn next year,” says Mr O’Malley.

ENDS

For further media information or high res images please contact:

Ben O’Malley Fiona Woodham

Director – Property and Development Director

Millbrook Southern PR Ltd

021 397 608 0274 313 270

ben@millbrook.co.nz Fiona@southernpr.co.nz

Go Orange at it again – Milford Haven stands out from the crowd at Milford Sound

Boat renovations, a string of awards and a brand-new menu launch just in time for summer — Milford Sound’s most celebrated scenic cruise boat is going above and beyond.

The new-look Milford Haven from Go Orange has launched into its second season with a new menu and award-winning brews from sister company Canyon Brewing Queenstown.

Travellers on board Haven can now choose from a freshly-cooked café-style menu with vegan and vegetarian options.

They can dig into cooked-to-order fish burgers or a crispy tofu roti generously covered with toppings, or browse a patisserie section filled with cakes and sweet treats paired with barista-made coffee.

Breakfasts and lunches are catered for and can be enjoyed inside, upstairs or out on picnic-style benches on the top deck.

For those who fancy a tipple, an artisan cheeseboard including some of New Zealand’s favourite cheeses is paired perfectly with a Mount Rosa 2019 rosé.

The Milford Haven is the only boat in in Milford Sound offering made-to-order menu items and café-style table service, standing out from the crowd with its marriage of impeccable design and outstanding hospitality.

The Haven features velvet-soft seating in jewel-like shades, café-style booths, eye-catching artwork, chilled music, and an AstroTurf top deck with wooden bench seating, an outdoor bar and 360-degree views.

“We’ve created a whole new model of how guests can experience Milford, and they’re loving it!” says Cruise Experience Manager Tim Wells.

“The fiord hasn’t changed for hundreds of years but we have, delivering a cruise experience that goes above and beyond in creating the perfect day out for our guests.

“We know we’re getting it right, with nearly 25% growth in guest numbers last year and rave reviews.”

Earlier this year Go Orange was named Fiordland Tourism Operator Of The Year as a result of the work put into Milford Haven and its Fiordland experience. Go Orange also won the Best Activity New Zealand award in the 2019 Adventure Tourism Awards across Australia and New Zealand.

For further media information or high-res images please contact:

Fiona Woodham

Southern PR – Account Manager

M: 0274 313 270

E: fiona@southernpr.co.nz

Next steps on plastic waste

The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the recent release of a pivotal report for dealing with waste.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report, released by her Chief Science Advisor Prof Juliet Gerrard.

Highlighting there is more we can do and our next steps to tackle plastic waste include:

Setting goals to shift away from low-value and hard-to-recycle plastic
Our first target will be to move away from single-use packaging and beverage containers made of hard-to-recycle PVC and polystyrene.
Stimulate innovation and development of solutions to the soft plastic problem
Accelerate work with local government and industry on better and more consistent kerbside collection of recyclables

Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage said the report reaffirms and extends the Government’s ambitious plan to reduce waste, which includes:

A container return scheme for drink bottles and cans
Regulated product stewardship schemes for tough waste issues such as e-waste, tyres and batteries
A National Resource Recovery work programme in response to China and other countries’ bans on importing waste and recyclables
Improving waste data
Expanding and improving the landfill levy to help fund more ways to recover, re-use and reprocess materials
A $40 million Provincial Growth Fund investment to turn plastic waste into useful material for businesses and consumers.

It is emphasised that a lot of this plastic waste doesn’t need to be created in the first place.

To enhance New Zealand as a sustainable visitor destination the goal must be to make Aotearoa an economy where plastic rarely becomes waste or pollution.

The Rethinking Plastics report is due to be confirmed within six months. Read more here.

Wairakei Resort Taupo have appointed renowned Executive Chef Jason Lewis to lead the team across the resort’s various food and beverage outlets.

Mr Lewis has a reputable name in the Taupo region having run the kitchen at Bistro Lago for Hilton Hotel and worked in various consulting positions within the region. For the previous five years Mr Lewis has been teaching culinary arts at Toi Ohomai institute of technology.

Wairakei Resort Marketing Manager Ash Palmer says the team are very fortunate to have landed such an exceptional talent.

“We are very excited to have Jason on board,” says Mr Palmer. “He’s got a fantastic reputation and there are a lot of local fans in Taupo who will be excited to learn that he will be curating our menus and delivering the exceptional food that he has become known for.”

“He has already created a concept summer menu that looks delicious and is in the process of enhancing our Friday and Saturday Night Market to ensure that it is even better than it was in previous years.”

Prior to moving to Taupo Mr Lewis was managing culinary television personality Simon Gault’s Pravda Restaurant in Wellington. It was Simon Gault who first asked if Mr Lewis would be interested in moving to Taupo as Executive Chef for the recently opened Bistro Lago.

“It was an absolute pleasure to spend seven years working under Simon Gault who is definitely one of New Zealand’s top chefs,” says Mr Lewis. “His innovative approach in the kitchen helped to shape me as a chef and I look forward to bringing new flavours and ideas to the plate here at Wairakei in one of Taupo’s top restaurants.”

With a passion for sustainability, mentoring and tapping into the talents of the team around him, Mr Lewis is the perfect candidate to take Wairakei Resort’s cuisine to the next level.

“As a Qualmark gold property Wairakei Resort is already on the right path when it comes to sustainable thinking, but I have a number of creative ideas about how the kitchen can further improve its environmental footprint,” says Mr Lewis.

As a leader and a family man Mr Lewis is passionate about putting people first which draws talent to his kitchens wherever he goes.

“I am also excited to mentor and work with the diverse team at Wairakei and encourage them to bring their own ideas and cuisine from their backgrounds to the guests of the resort and the people of Taupo.”

– Ends –

Ash Palmer, Marketing Manager

Chateau Tongariro Hotel & Wairakei Resort Taupo

DDI: 07 374 9693 | M: 027 319 3299 | T: 07 374 9004

Tourism Export Council of NZ appoints new Chief Executive

The Board of the Tourism Export Council of New Zealand (TECNZ) is delighted to announce that Lynda Keene has been appointed in the role of Chief Executive.

Anna Black, Board Chair of TECNZ says, “Lynda has extensive experience with inbound tourism, working with product suppliers and also experience in regional tourism development. There is a lot of learnings from her role at Destination Kaikōura that will be invaluable to other regions experiencing natural disasters and with challenging circumstances that can affect visitor flows”.

Some of Lynda’s previous roles have included working in hotel management (THC, Southern Pacific Hotels, now Intercontinental), former Chief Executive of Tourism Waikato, the Scottwood Trust and Nelson Tasman Tourism. She also has a strong consulting background previously working for Deloitte NZ, Tourism Business Advice (NZ), the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and South Asian Tourism Council. She has worked closely with local and central government agencies and has experience with advocacy and lobbying on key issues affecting the tourism industry.

Chair Anna Black says, “The industry is entering a period of change where international visitor arrivals are beginning to soften from some markets although it is encouraging that annual visitor spend continues to produce a positive result for New Zealand. Global trends suggest more travellers are expressing the need to see value in travelling to long-haul destinations to ensure carbon emissions are adequately offset and the visitor experience is heightened. We are mindful that careful messaging will be required by our full and allied members to allow New Zealand to continue to see growth in international arrivals and visitor spend”.

Lynda holds an MBA and is an accredited PR Practitioner. She began her career in tourism in 1981 and is a huge supporter of the YoungTEC programme as a former mentor and proponent of promoting tourism as a worthwhile career option for school leavers and those entering the tourism workforce. Lynda is of Ngāti Haua, Ngā Wairiki and Ngāti Apa Tuwharetoa descent and will start in the role early February 2020.

ENDS

About the Tourism Export Council of New Zealand

The Tourism Export Council of New Zealand (TECNZ) is a trade association that represents the interests of the inbound tourism industry since 1971. Its membership includes inbound tour operators (Inbound Members) and attraction, activity, accommodation, transport suppliers, regional tourism organisations and tourism services providers (Allied Members). TECNZ members collectively handle most of New Zealand’s international visitor arrivals. www.tourismexportcouncil.org.nz.

For more information please contact:

Louisa Turner

Tourism Export Council of NZ

027 480 7252