The Rees Culinary Coup: Attracts Olympian Chef to Head up True South Dining Room

The Rees Queenstown is delighted to announce the appointment of culinary Olympian and top 20 best young chef[1] in the world, Corey Hume as Executive Chef.

Chef Hume, a former member of the New Zealand National Culinary Olympic team has a “blue sky vision” for the hotel’s international award winning restaurant, True South Dining Room when he takes the reins on 14 October.

Mark Rose, Chief Executive of The Rees believes it’s a real coup to have attracted such a phenomenal Chef to be steward of True South in its next chapter.

“Corey is world-class – both in his creative calibre and kind-heartedness given his service record mentoring chefs and raising funds for important community causes. We’re all hugely excited to welcome him aboard to our team,” Rose says.

Cantabrian Hume wants to create an experience for both locals and overseas guests alike that is truly definitive of “True South” – a restaurant with a burgeoning trophy cabinet of its own that’s situated overlooking the Remarkables mountain range on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.

Style-wise he’s passionate about staying seasonal using only the finest ingredients yet likes to have fun by creating surprises, confessing to “love of a bit of theatre” in his approach.

His CV is impeccable just like his professional technique with a multi-page roll-call noting national and international distinctions, excellence awards, world chef affiliations, a global scholarship to the US, a guest chef secondment in Japan, a Board membership to Bocuse d’Or New Zealand, a national culinary Coach role and a clutch of bronze, silver and gold medals.

Yet despite all the accolades, including reaching one of the top echelons of the profession – competing in the World Culinary Olympics, Chef keeps grounded with humble values and a collaborative spirit based on a strong purpose and direction.

Inspired by his foodie grandparents – fondly remembering “the fresh biscuits and baking”, Hume was hooked from the tender age of 16 to be a chef and trained at Christchurch Polytechnic in the late nineties.

He describes his cookery as constantly evolving boosted by his love of travel throughout the world – after residencies working in Japan, Oman and exposure in the US for several preeminent Michelin star restaurants [2].

“I believe in honesty and authenticity – with a twist,” he says describing his signature style.

A memorable meal for him is full of flavour, follows the seasons, has a thoughtfulness in composition yet stays humble.

He’s driven to “create and share that passion with his team first and foremost as well as interacting with guests at the table”. He looks forward to cultivating a team that excel in their roles.

“I was always taught to create a team of future leaders.”

Chef also has a good perspective on sustainability both from an environmental and ethical viewpoint.

“There are real opportunities for us to be more proactive and efficient with solutions – there’s nothing that can’t be used in some way, that’s where the creativity comes in,” he says crediting his previous stint at opening Six Senses in Oman for his environmental ethos.

He looks forward to supporting the micro industry of local growers.

“Some ingredients I discovered in Michelin restaurants overseas are now being grown in our region. It’s important I partner with like-minded individuals and companies to enhance what we serve to our guests.”

Chef Hume believes Queenstown is an inspiring place to live. “There are few places where the view is as magnificent,” he says.

His last tenure as Executive Chef was at Blanket Bay Lodge for eight years.

ENDS

Media please contact:
Sarah Sparks

Sarah.sparks@markompr.com
+6421318813

Go Orange named Deloitte Fastest Growing Services Business two years in a row

The awards keep coming for Queenstown and Fiordland tourism operator Go Orange.

For the second year in a row, it was announced today (Thursday September 26) that Go Orange has been named the Fastest Growing Services Business in Dunedin and the lower South Island by Deloitte.

Go Orange won the same award for the first time last year, with revenue growth of 209%, and went on to rank 37^th on the national Deloitte Fast 50, announced later in the year.

“It’s an outstanding result for any company to be recognised for its contribution to the continued growth of the New Zealand business economy, but to do it two years in a row is exceptional,” says Go Orange General Manager Luke Taylor.

“We’re absolutely stoked with this latest award which recognises the hard work and dedication of our team across all our businesses in Queenstown, Te Anau and Milford Sound.”

It’s been a year of fast-paced success and industry accolades for Go Orange.

Less than two weeks ago it was named AWS Legal Fiordland Tourism Operator of the Year 2019. Within the past year Luke Taylor was named TIA emerging Leader of the Year, and Go Orange was a national finalist in the Humankind Employee Experience Awards.

Go Orange is also currently nominated as a finalist in the best tour/activity category of the Australia & New Zealand Adventure Tourism Awards 2019 and is an entrant in the innovation category. The awards recognise the outstanding achievements of tourism businesses in both countries.

The latest results are all the more remarkable for a tourism brand that was formed just over two years ago with the merger of a number of Queenstown businesses. It re-structured from a solely backpacker-focussed brand to one which aligns with a much wider range of travellers and demographics.

It delivers outstanding New Zealand visitor experiences with cruising, whitewater rafting, jet boating, kayaking and coach connections in Queenstown, Te Anau, Milford and Doubtful sounds.

In the past year it has launched a new Milford Haven cruise experience in Milford sound, a Go Orange jetboat experience, a bespoke Unimog fleet for rafting experiences, a new coach fleet and a new Queenstown ferry service.

“Our mantra is ‘Go Beyond’, inspiring and challenging visitors to become travellers, to go deeper, further and beyond the average tourist, and I’m incredibly proud of our team who have built an adventurous, fun and innovative brand,” says GM Luke Taylor.

Go Orange will attend the 2019 Deloitte Festival of Growth in November, where the national Deloitte Fast 50 index, national category winners, national Rising Star winner and national Master of Growth index are announced.

For further media information or images please contact:

Mandy Cooper

Southern PR

E: Mandy@southernpr.co.nz

M: 027 337 7907

Grand Pacific Tours is a New Zealand Coach Holiday Specialist aimed at the mature age traveller and recognised as the market leader offering travellers a quality experience that represents excellent value for money.

Tour in style, choose from over 180 guaranteed departures and a range of itineraries from 9 to 19 days :-

• Ultimate Small Group Tours (Business Class – 20 seat coach)
• Signature Mid-Size Tours (Premium Economy – 32 seat coach)
• Special Interest Tours (Varied coach size)

Our portfolio of Special Interest Tours includes Solo travellers, aviation, and festive season tours.

Grand Pacific Tours Head Office is Melbourne based with a traveller demographic of 75% Australian and 25% International travellers.

A proudly Australian founded company Scenic has offices across the globe, two sister companies, Evergreen Tours and Emerald Waterways and after more than three decades of successful operation, is looking towards an exciting future.

Scenic is a member of CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), IATA (International Air Transport Association), CATO (Council of Australian Tour Operators), and is ATAP Accredited (Australian Tourism Accreditation Program) which validates its strength, capabilities and international presence.

Tourism Talent enters Australia and launches new website

New Zealand’s only dedicated tourism talent development and recruitment marketplace has launched in Australia operating in both New South Wales and Western Australia.

Chris Flynn, President and CEO at The World Tourism Association for Culture & Heritage and former Regional Director Pacific for PATA, and Karen Priest, the Principal of Smart Tourism, a Perth based tourism consulting firm join Tourism Talent as Australian Directors.

Mr Flynn will be familiar to many as a he’s been a regular speaker at tourism conferences throughout New Zealand.
Ms Priest has 30 years’ experience in the private and public sector and currently serves on the Board of Tourism Western Australia.

Tourism Talent New Zealand’s Managing Director Dylan Rushbrook says ‘Australia is a natural next step. A number of our international clients have asked when we would move into the Australian market as they have similar talent issues to that of New Zealand. We also realise that the right talent doesn’t always live in New Zealand, so expanding into Australia opens up our talent pool, and creates opportunities for professionals to move between the two markets through our services.’

‘We are incredibly lucky to have people of the calibre of Chris and Karen believe in and share our passion for change. Both bring extensive local and global networks and will help take Tourism Talent to another level.’ says Rushbrook.
Flynn says, ‘The opportunity to become part of Tourism Talent was an easy decision. As an industry we’ve struggled in the past due to a lack of dedicated career platforms and expert guidance to help us determine the most appropriate career path to take. Tourism Talent fills that gap and I am proud to be part of the Australian team.’
Priest adds, ‘I am beyond excited about joining the Tourism Talent team. With 30 years’ experience in tourism, hospitality and recruitment in various parts of the world including New Zealand and Australia for a number of years, I am passionate about both countries, in mentoring our youth and encouraging them to think of tourism as an exhilarating career path for their future.

To support the expansion into the Australian market, Tourism Talent has also launched a new website this week. The website was developed by Auckland based Maverick Digital, who as a client of Tourism Talent’s had a unique insight into the business from both the client and candidate point of views.

Rushbrook goes on to say, ‘the great thing is that amongst the directors and our clients there is real energy and passion to see change happen and to see tourism become recognized for the amazing career that it can be. We are all really proud of what we’ve achieved over the past year, but there is a long way to go in New Zealand, Australia, and beyond.’

ENDS

For more information please contact; Dylan Rushbrook +64 212850625
dylan.rushbrook@tourismtalent.co.nz www.tourism-talent.com

About Tourism Talent
Tourism Talent was established in New Zealand in 2018 by tourism industry professionals Jason Hill (formerly of ATEED and Tourism NZ), and Dylan Rushbrook, (formerly of SKYCITY and Heritage & CityLife Hotels) who joined forces with Nuwanthie Samarakone, CEO of ICE, a talent development agency with offices in London, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Auckland and Wellington.
Born from frustration in sourcing quality talent for roles, and other agencies not understanding the tourism industry, the directors quickly established Tourism Talent and set about building a unique position in the market to make change happen, whilst supporting industry wide initiatives to change the image of tourism as a career.
Tourism Talent has three areas of focus in executive search, temping and development and is a sponsor of the New Zealand Tourism Awards – Employer of Choice Award in 2019.

Celebrate your uniqueness says tourism export expert

Celebrate your uniqueness is the message from tourism exporters to Waitaki tourism businesses.

TECNZ Chief Executive Judy Chen will meet with local operators and Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher to discuss the role that inbound tourism has in the regional economy.

“Inbound tour operators are the people that bring international visitors to New Zealand and they are always looking for new and innovative products to add into their itineraries” says Ms Chen.

“Most international visitors spend about two weeks in New Zealand and want to experience things they can’t do or see anywhere else. Differentiating yourself from others either with the product you have, or the service you provide, can make lasting impression.

Unique attractions and activities will help build stronger and more diverse visitor markets and there are so many unique natural features here that you can’t see anywhere else.” she says.

The Blue Penguin Colony at Oamaru is an example of taking what you have and really making a difference, combining tourism with a research and conservation element.  Through their efforts, they are being recognized nationally with a nomination in this years New Zealand Tourism Awards in the conservation category.

TECNZ is here to support and work with Waitaki operators and the local regional tourism organisation to further develop products for the international market.

“Working together we can make sure that the region has a strong, sustainable tourism industry well into the future.”

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:

Judy Chen

CEO Tourism Export Council of NZ

027 6644 836

Holiday parks give most income back to their communities 

Holiday parks contribute an average of 86% of their expenditure to their own regions and add further value through social, environmental and community contributions, a new report has found.

In combination with its ongoing Visitor Expenditure research, Holiday Parks New Zealand commissioned Angus & Associates to investigate the value of holiday parks to the communities in which they are based. The report examined the expenditure and non-financial contributions of a range of holiday parks across the country.

The average total expenditure of the holiday parks featured in the study was $1.11 million for the year ending March 2018. Expenditure most likely to be made in a park’s own region included rent, salaries and wages, indirect taxes, security, repairs, replacement and maintenance, cleaning and laundry, accounting and legal fees, and motor vehicle expenses. On average, more than 90% of expenditure in these categories occurred in-region.

Holiday parks’ average expenditure per region has grown compared with the 2016/17 and 2017/18 studies. In particular, the proportion of expenditure spent within the region for a small holiday park increased to 77 percent from 71 percent in 2016/17.

Salaries, wages and other employee costs were the largest expenses for holiday parks, with small and medium holiday parks spending a fifth of their expenditure on capital improvements, such as ablution blocks and solar panels. Large holiday parks may have a stronger focus on replacement and repairs, the report suggests.

Small holiday parks were found to have a slightly higher expenditure on advertising, promotion and publicity compared to large and medium parks.

“Park investment has increased noticeably since 2017. The improvement to facilities may reflect the strong performance of holiday parks and New Zealand’s tourism sector in general in recent years,” says New Zealand Holiday Parks Chief Executive Fergus Brown.

The study suggests that when the contribution of parks is combined with the average spend of park visitors, the holiday park sector’s economic contribution to New Zealand is $1.32 billion – higher than previous estimates of $1.16 billion (2015) and $1.17 billion (2017).

In addition to financial contributions, holiday parks are making social, environmental, economic and community contributions to their local areas. Some ways in which they were found to be doing this were by having staff act as board members or trustees of local community boards and projects, and as predator control advocates and conservation volunteers.

Fergus Brown states: “Not only are the parks bringing $1.2 billion a year to the industry in visitor expenditure, they are creating a sustainable environment and allowing communities to thrive”.

ENDS

For more information

Fergus Brown

Chief Executive
Holiday Parks New Zealand
Phone: 04 298 3283
Mobile: 021 535 087
Email: Fergus@holidayparks.co.nz

Web:   www.holidayparks.co.nz

Chateau Marlborough Hotel wins Best Regional Property Award for second time.

Chateau Marlborough Hotel has been recognised as one of the country’s leading hotels by the HM Awards – winning Best Regional Property in New Zealand at the Sydney Awards on Friday 6th September.

The 2019 HM Awards for Hotel and Accommodation Excellence, are the leading industry awards in the region and celebrate the best properties, departments, people, chains and brands in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Chateau Marlborough was up against 15 other properties in their category. Chief Executive Officer, Brent Marshall says the team is thrilled to have been chosen for this prestigious award for the second consecutive year.

“This award is testament to the hard work and dedication that our General Manager Lynley Mckinnon and her team have put into the hotel over the years. Working through a major extension and maintaining exceptional standards whilst growing the business is an exceptional achievement and it is an honour to be recognised by the HM Awards in this way”

Chateau Marlborough offers 80 boutique hotel rooms in the centre of Blenheim and is the only hotel rated Qualmark 5 star Gold at the top of the South Island.

Ends

For further information please contact:
Lynley Mckinnon
General Manager
www.marlboroughnz.co.nz

Dunedin Convention Bureau rebrands to Dunedin Business Events

(Dunedin, 13 September 2019) – The Dunedin Convention Bureau has announced a rebranding to Dunedin Business Events, reflecting a growing trend in the national conference industry.

Nicole Carvell Business Events Tourism Advisor Enterprise Dunedin says, “Looking at the list of regional bureaus in New Zealand, approximately half have adopted the newer ‘business events’ terminology over ‘convention bureau’.

“We feel it’s a better fit for the size and nature of our conference offering in Dunedin, which has found its niche in association and boutique-sized conferences, especially those that can benefit from the academic strengths the city possesses.”

As part of Enterprise Dunedin, the economic development and destination marketing arm of the Dunedin City Council, Dunedin Business Events works to attract national and international conferences to the city.  Dunedin’s share of delegate spend in the New Zealand business events market is worth approximately $16.4m per year. Some of this spend is generated by local businesses hosting events locally, but Dunedin attracts a large number of delegates from other parts of the country and abroad. Closer analysis suggests $5.6m of delegate spend in Dunedin was from international visitors, $6.5m was from visitors from other parts of New Zealand, and $4.3m was from locals.

While boutique conferences have been identified as the main source of medium-term growth, the city has proven successful in hosting a number of larger-scale events, such as TRENZ 2018. The compact city layout and wealth of recreational opportunities have also played a role in securing future events such as the 2020 World Leisure Congress.

Differentiation is an important aspect of the Dunedin Business Events offering, the unique heritage venues, access to local experts as keynote speakers and opportunities to view some of New Zealand’s rarest wildlife provide a strong point of difference.

In keeping with this, some of the new messaging developed as part of the rebranding plays on Dunedin’s perceived remote location, ‘We’ll go to the ends of the earth to make sure your event is a success. Oh, we’re already there’.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Nicole Carvell

Business Events Tourism Advisor

Enterprise Dunedin

Dunedin City Council

Telephone: 03 471 8834

Mob: 021 477 231

Email: nicole.carvell@dcc.govt.nz

Sarah Bramhall

PR and Promotions Advisor

Enterprise Dunedin

Dunedin City Council

Telephone: 03 471 8832

Mob: 022 1872 535

Email: sarah.bramhall@dcc.govt.nz

VisitorPoint celebrates new tourism industry partnership

A new tourism business partnership between New Zealand’s top brochure distribution company and Australia’s leading online booking platform is being hailed as a ‘win win’ for the travel trade.

VisitorPoint, New Zealand’s only national distributor of tourism information, has joined forces with global travel-tech group, Adventium Technology.

VisitorPoint BDM Stacey Scott says the new partnership, which aligns specifically with Adventium’s TravelDesk product, has amazing synergies and benefits for both businesses.

VisitorPoint currently distributes over 3,500 brochure titles from New Zealand tourism operators throughout the country. The new arrangement will mean all current and future users of the Adventism TravelDesk booking platform throughout Australia and New Zealand will have a seamless platform on which to order stock through VisitorPointOnline.

“Rather than requiring independent log ins, users will be able to click a button while within TravelDesk and choose the stock they’d like to order,” says Stacey.

“They’ll be dispatched within 24 hours from one of our three warehouses in New Zealand, meaning accessing stock has never been easier. As new outlets come on board, they’ll be automatically given log ins so there’s no delay in accessing the titles we manage.

“It’s fantastic news for TravelDesk outlets, but also for our operators as it means more than 600 outlets in Australasia now have access to their print collateral at the click of a mouse, and consumption is measurable through our client reporting system.”

Ms Scott says TravelDesk has a range of benefits for VisitorPoint outlets as it is a simple booking system, enabling them to generate revenue by booking national and international travel products from their brochure displays.

Adventium Technology’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Selina Kelly, says “We are dedicated to providing the content and functionality our travel agents need into the TravelDesk system to give them greater efficiency and make their lives easier. Both TravelDesk and VisitorPoint are focused on supporting agent and operator growth throughout the region, making this a great partnership for us and our clients.”

About VisitorPoint

VisitorPoint is New Zealand’s only national distributor of tourism information, having distributed brochures throughout New Zealand for more than 30 years.

It operates three warehouses in Christchurch, Auckland and Queenstown equipped with full teams of warehouse staff working in tandem with 19 merchandisers, as well as sales and marketing and senior management teams.

It is a company that likes to innovate — last year it introduced live online reporting for its clients, and it supports print companies which share its sustainable print visions.  It has over 2000 physical display outlets throughout New Zealand and operates 38 distribution circuits.

For further media information or high res images please contact:

Stacey Scott

VisitorPoint Business Development Manager

M: 021 828 977

E: Stacey.S@VisitorPoint.co.nz

OR

Fiona Woodham

Southern PR

T: 03 451 0444

M: 027 4313270

E: fiona@southernpr.co.nz