Guest nights rise in November
National guest nights for November 2015 were 4.6 percent higher than in November 2014, Statistics New Zealand said this week. "Guest nights continued to rise this month, with the South Island leading the way when compared with November 2014," business indicators manager Clara Eatherley said. "The Otago region had the largest increase in guest nights, boosted mainly by Queenstown and Wanaka. Read more here.
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Applications extended for Kiwi Link Japan and Korea 2016!Time is running out to apply to attend Kiwi Link Japan and Korea 2016 – an opportunity for both new and experienced tourism operators to deepen their relationships with key Japanese and Korean travel partners. The two part event starts in Tokyo, Japan from 1-2 March 2016, with Part II being an optional extension to Seoul, Korea on 4 March 2016. With places limited, contact
Stephanie Wagener directly by Monday 25 January. Read more here.
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Māori Language Week resources are now available online to order & download from here.
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Migration has made New Zealand a great country - now we have a chance to become a cultural world leaderA new year is about new perspectives, and from the perspective of the rest for the world, there are many reasons why record numbers of tourists come to New Zealand and migrants want to settle here. We can breathe the air and drink water from the tap. Friends just back from visiting Beijing
coughed their way around the Forbidden City and climbing the Great Wall. Corruption is not the modus operandi and if you try it, our enforcement system generally catches you. We have an independent judicial system and we have tough regulation and regulators to protect the public interest whether in financial products or food. But there is potentially another great market advantage New Zealand has of greater cultural competence than other parts of the world due to the large number of indigenous people and Auckland being the largest Pacific City in the world. Read more here.
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Singapore Airlines confirms Wellington-Canberra flightsSingapore Airlines has confirmed it will start flying between Wellington and Canberra, launching in September. The airline will link the two cities for the first time with a four times a week service that will fly on to Singapore. It is the first time the two Australasian cities have been linked and is a coup for both as they expand international operations. Read more here.
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Hotel chains up the anteLike everyone else in the world of travel, hotels constantly have to reinvent their practices to stay ahead of the game. We spoke to industry heads to see what's on the cards this year in the hotel world. Technology:
This is the big one. Most of us now research and book our trips online, and as we become more and more dependent on our devices, so too do we expect connectivity everywhere we go. Wi-fi has long been a sticking point - it was too expensive for too long, but these days you'll find at least some free internet access in most hotels. Read more here.
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Chinese spend most of all tourists
Despite only 6% of Chinese citizens holding a passport, tourists from the world's most populous country are making a big impact in their favourite holiday destinations. Travellers from China have topped spending among all international tourists for the third year in a row, according to a report by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. This revealed that an estimated 13% of all tourist purchases in 2015 were by Chinese nationals – and that number is set to grow as hundreds of millions of Chinese move into the middle class demographic and contemplate overseas holidays.
Read more here.
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