WHY LEARNING MANDARIN AND OTHER LANGUAGES ARE IMPORTANT TO NEW ZEALAND  

China is the largest outbound international visitor market with more than 100 million per annum visiting a range of destinations around the world. Five years ago visitor numbers to New Zealand were 100,000 and they are now our number two international visitor at 320,000 per annum and growing at 30% year on end.

To deliver on our 100% Pure New Zealand experience, tour operators of all shapes, size and regional spread need to have more staff who understand Chinese customs, traditions and basics of the language.

In recent years to accommodate this need, migrant labour have being used as a short term fix. However the Government is clear that we must as an industry upskill more multi language employees into the industry and not rely on working holiday or other short term visa staffing options.

That being said, we need more New Zealand students to a) consider tourism and hospitality as a valued career option and b) encourage as many as possible to learn Mandarin.

However, the percentage of students learning a second language in New Zealand secondary schools has dropped to its lowest in over 80 years. Last year, just one in five students, or 20%, were enrolled to study a second language – compared to 40% in 1963 who studied two or more languages. Seven years ago there were 71,000 students learning a second language compared to 57,000 last year.

Figures soon to be released by the Ministry of Education show that there are more primary school students learning Mandarin than there are studying any other foreign language. But the pathway to secondary schools, and to University is weak. In 2014 there were 25,000 primary students studying Mandarin but only 4,200 at secondary school. This compares with 17,000 secondary students studying Japanese – with Japan our fifth largest market at 84,000 visitors.

The rise and rise of ‘information technology’ as a core curriculum subject and the lack of educational leadership in promoting languages as a core subject are two reasons for the decline at secondary level. Student choice is another barrier with learning other languages seen as ‘soft or isn’t going to take me anywhere’.

When looking at Asian and European countries, most students are coming out of school with a proficiency in at least two, possibly three or more languages. New Zealand does not have a national language policy and learning a language is not compulsory in New Zealand schools at any level. This is something the tourism and other export sectors should be promoting.

As the Chinese holiday visitor rate and general visitor visas (GVV) are increasing at a faster rate than the general visitor rate and ADS visa applications, this is indicative that Chinese visitors are growing in confidence and want to explore more of New Zealand.  Moteliers, hostels, sightseeing, local transport and activity/attraction operators, all need front line staff to do that warm welcome in Mandarin.  When we travel to China, we are apprehensive of not being able to speak the language and appreciate those Chinese who can speak a little English. Similarly when Chinese or other international visitors come in contact with New Zealanders who can speak a little of their own language, they too feel appreciated and comforted.

As we welcome more international visitors to New Zealand from Asia and South America, understanding the basics of their culture and language will add to our already ‘friendliest country in the world’ point of difference. Most people in the world can speak/understand one of three languages with these being Mandarin (1 billion speakers), Spanish (414 million) and English (335 million) so any staff who learn Mandarin and Spanish give New Zealand companies a huge advantage.

If you have the opportunity to promote learning of languages at your child’s primary or secondary school, please do so. Some of those who learn could potentially be your future employees.

This is a very interesting retail and international market spend report. Visa Global Intentions Study 2015

PRESIDENT MARTIN HORGAN – TOURISM EXPORT COUNCIL CONFERENCE SPEECH 2015

Firstly I want to congratulate you all on what has been an excellent year of success for tourism in New Zealand.

We’ve had a blinder… and that success can, and is directly attributed to you all.  Destination New Zealand has never been held in higher regard and that is a direct reflection of the work many of you have done offshore – and that all of you have done in New Zealand by providing awesome experiences for the almost 3 million (check if end July takes us over) or so visitors that choose to vacation or experience New Zealand over the last year.

I was fortunate enough to spend 10 days with a group of travel advisors travelling throughout New Zealand a few months ago and it was inspiring to experience New Zealand’s tourism offering through the eyes of first time visitors.  We have a plethora of very high quality operators working in the tourism space in this country and we can all learn lessons from each other.

So as we look back over the last season and look ahead to the next, we have a lot to be grateful for.  That said we are an ambitious industry and more so than ever, we all have high expectation of the 2015/16 season and beyond.

With growth often come challenges, and that’s also something we’re grappling with at the moment. 

Seasonality has always been an issue for the Tourism Industry in New Zealand but with extraordinarily high demands from traditional leisure visitors in those peak months, this issue has been exasperated.  We clearly need to push business (that could & can be moved) into those shoulder seasons – events, conferences, incentives and any other business that has some flexibility.  Our growth will be restricted and limited if everybody tries to travel between November and February. Our company (as an example) did more than 20 times more business in February than in June – Many of you will be the same.  I’d like (we’d all like) that to level out somewhat!

Wholesale availability was a battle for ITO’s over the last season and looks to be is worse again for the 2015/16 high season.  We can’t grow unless we have the rooms, we know hotels need to make hay while the sun shines (as do ITO’s), but when we can’t purchase space in one or two locations in inhibits our ability to build complete New Zealand itineraries, and then if rooms are available through other sources – it undermines our relationship with our clients and jeopardises those contracts.  We want more rooms from our hotel partners, and in return we will support your properties 365 days of the year, in good years and in bad years.

Tourism Infrastructure:  The bottom line is we need more, and it can’t happen soon enough. Capacity limitations are a critically restricting factor at the moment and we need development and redevelopment, we need new projects, new hotels and upgraded stock.  It’s exciting to see new hotels on the go and proposed in Auckland, but right now the demand is there for more, and throughout the country.  There has to be an opportunity for tourism developers at the moment and I hope we see more exciting projects announced in the next year ahead.  With the current tourism environment looking positive, we hope investors and the industry take confidence and embrace the the JFK quote of “the best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining”.

Tourism Growth Partnership Funding:  We are an energetic, innovative and creative industry and this has been put to the test by MBIE’s Tourism Growth Partnership Fund.  This opportunity is the envy of many of our competitive set destinations.  Jim Boult spoke at TRENZ and again invited Tourism businesses and entrepreneurs to apply for TGP Funding for original and pioneering ways of growing New Zealand Tourism.  If you haven’t considered the opportunity that TGP funding currently presents for your business – you should.  Through the MBIE TGP channel the Govt. is willing to invest in your business success, it genuinely is a valuable and unique opportunity should you have an original idea or concept that will add new value to the success of the New Zealand Visitor industry.

Travel Tax: It seems ironic after giving acknowledgement to the government for their funding initiatives that now we talk about the industry being blindsided in the recent budget with the announcement of a legislated travel border bio-security tax which takes effect 01 January 2016. There was no consultation with those expected to implement, and with our CATT – Coalition Against Travel Tax group.  We strenuously oppose the tax. And why? Lack of research, border control is public good not consumer benefit, international visitors already pay $700 million on GST and none of it reclaimable (unlike many other competitive set countries), and it is the Primary Industries that are the actual beneficiaries of the tax – what is their contribution going to be? With cruise and inbound operators having pre-sold travel packages, there is no facility to collect extra from the consumers. The CATT group are hoping to have this delayed until 2017 and for an informed discussion on collection and implementation can be had.

Tourism driver safety was a hot topic this summer gone and justifiably so.  Something I even got a taste of myself, as I expect many of you did also.  It’s literally a life and death issue and as an industry something we need to be constantly working on.  We are certainly making progress through the work that RVA, TIA and industry leadership groups set up to tackle the problem.  But we can all do our part, ITO’s through advice, education and responsible planning and hotels and attractions by offering friendly face to face information, ‘where are going next? Can I help you? Remember to stay in that left lane!  Be wary of a few tight corners after you leave here!’ and even by placing signage at the gates as clients drive away ‘ thanks for coming, drive safe, stay left and keep to the speed limit’ etc.  We can all do something; think about what your business’s contribution should be and do it!

Christchurch rebuild.  As a Cantabrian it’s hard to believe the Earthquake that reshaped our city was 4 and a half years ago.   Christchurch is an awesome city and following on from Feb 2011, continues to re-establish itself again as more than just a tourism gateway.  Whilst we’ve seen real progress in some area’s such as commercial development, the anchor products proclaimed by the Govt. & Council have been painfully slow and that inhibits both the city’s ability to attract visitors and to recover.

The Metro Sports Centre was to open in 2017, that’s now been pushed out to 2020. The Arts Centre to reopen in 2016 is something to look forward to, the footprint for The Performing Arts Precinct now behalf cut in half – not so much. Rugby Stadium – no date, Cathedral and Cathedral Square revitalisation – who knows? The Christchurch Convention Centre was to open in 2017, that’s now been pushed out to 2018 with Gerry Brownlee proclaiming recently that even a 2018 completion date is unlikely and that plans for the facility should be reconsidered in light of the Christchurch City Council’s recent decision to save the Town Hall!   This is ludicrous and short-sighted, the two buildings serve different interests & needs and delaying the convention centre indefinitely will hurt the CBD’s recovery immensely. I understand we need to cut our coat to fit the cloth in Christchurch, but we’re passionate about our city as both somewhere to live and also a destination to send our visitors.  If we want to see a recovery in the next decade – we need to stop talking and start doing.  4 and a ½ years has been long enough.

Selling the tourism sizzle story: Tourism is often under valued as an export sector by local and national government, Business NZ and media. Domestic and international tourism creates very significant regional spread and employment and we need to do a better marketing job of our own export sector to all key influencers and mainstream New Zealand so that they understand & value tourism’s contribution to the economy and value as a tourism career employer.

I want to say congratulations and thank you to both Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand.  Tourism New Zealand’s on-going 100% Pure campaign deservedly continues to be revered world over.  We’re very grateful for the exceptional work you do to promote our businesses and destination New Zealand.  Congratulations to Tourism New Zealand for winning the best National Tourism Award at Virtuoso last week, and to Air New Zealand for being a deserved finalist.

In the last 12 months Air New Zealand has announced new direct services to both Houston and Buenos Aires.  These additions to the Air New Zealand network will have massive implications for us all from December 2015.  A successful, profitable, engaged and forward thinking national carrier is the backbone to any destinations tourism success and we couldn’t do much better, or be prouder of Air New Zealand.

Environmental commitment  – at the 2012 conference we received a mandate from members to do more as an industry in trying to protect our best asset, the environment. Our recent survey has 90% of members continuing to support this and yesterday we had a successful ‘green volunteer’ day Orokonui Eco-Sanctuary. 30 members came in early to participate in weeding & planting in pretty cold conditions (thanks team) and we are pleased to announce that from your registration fees, we will donate $1000 to Orokonui to enable them to continue to do their good work.

Inbound tour operators and outdoor attraction & activity operators pay concession fees to DOC, and many of you donate time & money to significant projects around the country. We as an organisation would also like to continue’ walking the talk’ with the Board committing $10,000 for the coming year to a specific environmental project. The details are still to be worked through re what the project will be, but we welcome your ideas and thoughts to what this might go towards.

There’s lots of good news out there for the Tourism Industry right now, we should all be proud of our achievements as a cohesive industry. Here’s to another great conference!

Formally Vector Wero & Vodafone Events Centre. Add an adrenaline shot to your holiday all at one state-of-the-art location.

Vector Wero Whitewater Park is designed for individual, families, school groups, weekend warriors. team building or flushing out the cobwebs during a busy conference agenda,

The two man made rivers were designed by the world’s leading hydro-engineers and it’s almost as exciting to watch rafts and kayaks play in the rapids as it is to experience them first hand.

Centrally located in the Manukau hub the park provides a unique experience for groups seeking a memorable and challenging day out without having to commit a whole day of travelling.

The grade 3-4 River Rush is wild enough to challenge world class athletes and safe enough to keep novices in one piece.

Vector Wero Whitewater Park’s design was assisted by New Zealand’s most successful Olympic athlete, Ian Ferguson.

YOUNG TEC EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER!

The Tourism Export Council of New Zealand announced Monday 17 August at the National Tourism Conference awards event held at Larnach Castle Dunedin, the winner of the Young TEC Excellence Award was Loren Heaphy, Tourism & Events Manager for Ngatu Whatua Orakei.

Ask about what it means, Loren says  – I’m really grateful for the opportunities the Tourism Export Council has given me and very humbled to have won this 

award. The process of entering the awards is an eye opening and almost uncomfortable process at times, and one which requires some serious self-reflection, not to mention confidence. After my entry in 2014, I made the decision to make the move up to Auckland and pursue a new challenge, and I feel very lucky that the process of applying for the Young TEC Excellence Award has helped me define and shape my career.

 It is an honour and privilege to have received this award and I look forward to heading to the Shanghai office to better understand the China market and its unique challenges and opportunities. 

Congratulations also to Collette Leonard from Skycity Grand Hotel and James Yu (Wairkei Resort & Chateau Tongariro), as well as the other entrants – I feel very flattered to be amongst a group of finalists who are such high achievers and who will go very far in the tourism industry. I encourage all of those in Young TEC to put yourselves forward for these awards – there are benefits beyond winning that will help you move forwards in your career and reflect on what you have already achieved. 

As the winner she receives a sponsored prize of:

• Two week professional development placement in one of Tourism New Zealand’s international offices
•  Return economy flights sponsored by Air New Zealand
•  Accommodation at an Accor Hotel Property
• $1,000 spending money from Tourism Export Council for overseas expenses

The award recognises the outstanding efforts and contribution to the development of New Zealand’s tourism industry by a Young TEC member under the age of 36 years and their company is a Tourism Export Council member. Applicants had to, in a written submission outline their key achievements to date, how the achievements contributed to the growth of their company, what their personal professional ambition was and share their vision of the tourism industry in 10-15 years’ time. The written submissions were scored by four judges to select three finalists who then attended an interview with the judges who selected the winner based on their responses to key questions and leadership potential.

President Martin Horgan of the Tourism Export Council and Head Judge enthuses “the judges were impressed with the calibre of the finalists and all three have contributed in meaningful and measureable ways to their businesses. The award and prize is an amazing opportunity for our young people to plan for a long career in tourism and demonstrates the Tourism Export Councils commitment to succession planning and professional development of our future tourism leaders. We are very grateful to our sponsors Air New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand and Accor Hotels who didn’t hesitate when approached to support this award.”

YOUNG TEC RISING STAR WINNER! 

New for this year is a second Young TEC award. After the inaugural Young TEC Excellence Award last year and receiving the applications, it was apparent there was gap between the 25-30 year old Young TECs and their achievements, versus those a little more mature and experienced. The Young TEC Executive committee requested that a second award for “Rising Star” be introduced. This award is a face to face presentation to the Executive committee representatives in the form of telling their story of how they entered the industry, why they chose tourism as their career and what are their future aspirations?

The winner for 2015 was Shayne Forrest from Hobbiton Movie Set Tours and he shares his thoughts on being a Young TEC member and what winning the award means.

“I am incredibly humbled to have won the inaugural YoungTec Rising Star award. It was an honour to be a finalist with such strong candidates and I would like to congratulate the talented young tourism leaders involved in this award. Being part of Young TEC is broadening my industry knowledge and networks among my peers and I look forward to being more involved with Young TEC. I am extremely grateful for the amazing opportunity I have been given with the Hobbiton Movie Set team and consider myself very lucky to be in a career that I love, selling Hobbiton and our beautiful country to the world.”

The prize is attendance to the Tourism Export Council Conference, Young TEC Summit, participation in the National Development Programme and $500 from the Tourism Export Council for travel expenses. Finalists for the inaugural award were: Nicole Botting (THL Online), Ross Fowler (Stamford Plaza Hotel), Sarah McIwrick (Millbrook Resort) and Shayne Forrest from Hobbiton Movie Set Tours.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says it’s fantastic to see the industry identify and support the people who will shape its future. “Through programmes like Young TEC and these awards, the industry is really embracing the new ideas and fresh perspective that comes from the younger generation of tourism professionals. Acknowledging success and providing ongoing professional development are core parts of Tourism New Zealand’s culture so we are pleased to be able to offer our support to the Young TEC Excellence Award”.

Top tour operators recognised by industry

Three of New Zealand’s top operators have been recognised as the best in the business by their industry peers at an awards dinner held at the Larnach Castle Dunedin at the annual Tourism Conference Monday 17 August.

Pan Pacific Travel was named Inbound Tour Operator of the Year, while Queenstown operators in a historical first, Real Journeys & Southern Discoveries jointly received the Operator of the Year Award 2015, demonstrating the calibre of the products and their relationships across inbound members. 

Pan Pacific Travel – “Inbound Tour Operator of the Year” 2015

This year allied members of the Tourism Export Council have voted Pan Pacific Travel their number one inbound tour operator. Pan Pacific Travel Group Chairman, Chris Ireland, said that “we traditionally tend to just quietly get on with things and we were very pleasantly surprised to find that we’d been nominated by several Allied Members again this year. We were the inaugural winners’ of this Award in 2010 and have felt these awards have had a positive impact in our relatively niche sector of the industry”.  “We have always enjoyed a great relationship with our supplier partners– and do consider this a partnership – that is vitally important to how we do business. Frankly, recognition by our peers is far more meaningful to us than a committee of third party organizations that we may have no interaction with at all. The whole team at Pan Pacific were delighted to hear of the nomination and making the final three… not to mention having a great deal of fun making the video”.

He regretted he couldn’t be at Dunedin to join with the many Allied Members to celebrate the award however suggested that Matt (Brady) and John (Gregory) would be on hand “to show our appreciation” in the normal fashion. Other finalists in the Inbound Operator of the Year awards were General Travel and Southern World.

Real Journeys & Southern Discoveries – “Operator of the Year” 2015

The Real Journeys team is extremely proud to be the recipient of the “Operator of the Year 2015” as voted by our Inbound Tour Operator business partners. Ryan Ingram, Real Journeys Director of Sales, says the whole team, from sales through to operations, can take credit for this award.  “We are so appreciative of such a vote of confidence, especially after what has been one of the busiest seasons in recent history.  We are very lucky to have a fantastic team working to deliver remarkable experiences who strive to continually do it better.  Winning this award recognises and endorses those efforts.  Thank you to our inbound tour operator partners for your great support.”

Sales & Marketing Manager Julia Savill says “Southern Discoveries is delighted to receive the TECNZ Operator of the Year for 2015. To be awarded this by our valued clients is the ultimate endorsement, and we are humbled and honoured by their nomination. We’re going through exciting changes to our product offerings, and this award tells us that the changes we are making are positive. It also ensures we will keep on this path so that we continue to deliver the best experience for our customers. We also offer our congratulations to other finalists in the Operator of the Year category Real Journeys and the Avis Budget Group.

Tourism Export Council CEO Lesley Immink says each year the awards are hotly contested as being voted among your peers as being the best in the business for ‘doing good business’ is a great accolade that filters down to all levels of the operator teams. Inbound tour operators nominate allied supplier members and allied members nominate inbound tour operators. The applicants are judged on their innovation, marketing, business operation, communications, accessibility and industry relationships. The Board then assesses those nominated based on a points system to choose three finalists and it goes back out to the respective member groups to vote for the winners.

The awards were presented by Chris Flynn PATA, David Clendon Green Party Tourism Spokesperson and Peeni Henare, Labour Party Tourism Spokesperson.

If you have the passion, self-motivation and commitment for a challenging role in a fast paced environment, then please email your CV and cover letter to marketing@kiwidiscovery.com by 20th August 2015.

Queenstown Rafting

Tēnā koutou katoa

Warm greetings to you all from Hike Bike Ako Waiheke Island. We are a new allied member to the Tourism Export Council and are looking forward to establishing positive relationships with other members.

If you have yet to hear about our operation, please visit our website:

www.hikebikeako.co.nz

In a nutshell, we offer well-being to our guests. This is delivered via high quality, guided hiking, biking and cultural tours on stunning Waiheke Island.

Mauri ora

Dr Robyn Manuel (General Manager and Lead Guide)

May 2015

TRADE INFORMATION

Edgewater – Lake Wanaka has embarked on a refurbishment programme of its guest rooms.

The four-star Qualmark property is managing a staged upgrade of all rooms types during lower occupancy months through 2015-2016.

1)     The first batch of rooms (approximately 38 hotel rooms and suites) are being refurbished April – June 2015

2)     The next phase, of a similar number of rooms, will occur October – November 2015

3)     The last phase is planned for April – June 2016

The refurbishment will comprise of:-

• Interior repaint of the rooms, including the ceilings (which involves the removal of the ceiling stipple)
• New carpet throughout
• New curtains and shadow curtains throughout
• Improved lighting throughout including ceiling lighting on dimmer control
• New sofas (in suites and two bedroom apartments) and occasional chair (in hotel/studio room)
• New soft furnishings such as cushions and bed throws plus new wall picture/mirrors
• Note: there is no change to the bathrooms or kitchenette areas.
  

Edgewater’s spacious layout will allow the hotel to undertake the project in a manner so as to try and avoid guest inconvenience.  We will aim to ensure guests are placed in guest rooms away from those that are under current refurbishment.

There will be periods of time, such as the winter ski season 2015 and the summer of 2015-2016, when the hotel will be operating with a mix of rooms with existing interior designs and those that have been refurbished.

We will provide updates as the refurbishment progresses.

For further information contact:

Trish May, Email: bd@edgewater.co.nz or phone mobile +64 21 916 188.

I’ve just been notified that our application for the Qualmark Enviro Gold Award has been granted. The Enviro Gold Award recognizes that we exceed the highest levels of environmental and social responsibilities, representing strong leadership and advocacy. 

It has been most satisfying to learn from Alan Bougen and play part in outlining the lengths that Comvita has gone to in ‘walking the walk’ both environmentally and socially. We are now one of only seven tourist Endorsed Visitor Activities in New Zealand to have gained the Enviro Gold Award.

DrewCopestake

Experience Manager