Tourism New Zealand has acknowledged its conference professionals on World Tourism Day, celebrating their efforts and achievements in making international conferences possible.
The Tourism New Zealand Business Events National Awards, held at national museum Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington on Tuesday, recognised the contribution of key New Zealand industry leaders and academics.
Following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 events, this year’s awards recognised 61 conference experts from across New Zealand who have worked alongside Tourism New Zealand and its convention bureau partners to secure high-profile conference wins for the country.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy said business events were extremely important to New Zealand’s tourism industry.
“Conferences provide an opportunity to share knowledge, forge business relationships, and showcase local talent, tourism experiences and our unique culture, and the hard work of these influential and talented individuals plays an integral part in attracting these events to our shores,” de Monchy said.
“While the pandemic stopped the last two Awards ceremonies, the substantial number of ambassadors celebrated this year is testament to the fact that our conference champions never stopped working. Bidding activity continued, and Tourism New Zealand is proud to support this. The business events industry is building a strong pipeline of high-quality visitors to New Zealand for the coming years.”
In the last financial year alone, New Zealand won 34 conferences, estimated to be worth $41.6m to the local economy.
Tourism New Zealand will also plant a native tree in honour of each of the National Awards recipients through environmental charity Project Crimson’s Trees That Count programme, supporting World Tourism Day’s theme of regenerative tourism.
