NZ seeks better deal with ChinaThe Government is looking to China to renegotiate its free trade agreement with New Zealand after China signed a more generous agreement with Australia. Australia signed its free trade agreement with China last week - an agreement China described as the most liberal it has signed with another country. Trade Minister Tim Groser said New Zealand was using the Australia free trade agreement to argue that it was time to improve the New Zealand version. Read more here.
|
CongratulationsTo Mitai Māori Village, for their win at the 2015 Rotorua Hospitality Awards on Sunday night. Read more here.
|
Singapore Airlines Announcement Significant Boost for South Island EconomyThis week's announcement that Singapore Airlines will operate additional flights to Christchurch this summer is being welcomed by Christchurch Airport. The airline is increasing its daily service to between 9 and 10 flights a week between 2 December 2015 and 15 February 2016. Airport chief executive Malcolm Johns says the supplementary flights reflect an extra 7,290 seats into Christchurch. "That will bring an additional $15 million in visitor spending. Given 75% of the international visitors that arrive via Christchurch also visit other areas this will have a positive impact on our regional economies," he says. Read more here.
|
|
Autumn arrivals continue to drive positive growthContinued growth in holiday arrivals from Tourism New Zealand's target markets has resulted in a record-setting autumn, with total holiday arrivals up 16.5 per cent for the month of May. Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says "It is fantastic to see such strong visitor growth extending well past the traditional holiday season. Tourism New Zealand's new strategy to focus efforts on
driving arrivals growth in the shoulder seasons will push this even further. "This month's arrivals bring us ever closer to an annual arrivals figure of three million, a new milestone for the New Zealand tourism industry. Read more here.
|
Country Calendar visits HavelockA Havelock couple have found themselves under the glare of the television lights again - this time with perennial favourite, Country Calendar. The Country Calendar crew has been filming in the Sounds with flounder fisherman Mike Bradley and his wife Lynette Bradley, who owns Shark Nett art gallery in town. The Shark Nett gallery housed one of the largest privately owned traditionally carved, contemporary Māori heritage art collections in the world. The BBC crew filmed Māori art, the story of the Marlborough Sounds, and the connection of wood carving to the forest, and Māori story telling. Read more here.
|
|
Regional Growth Programme newsletters from MBIE The June 2015 newsletter with updates on the Regional Growth Programme being undertaken by central government agencies in conjunction with the regions is now available.
Read it here.
|
Giant of the seas scheduled to visitThe biggest - and, with a $1.4 billion price tag, the most expensive - cruise ship ever to visit New Zealand will call in to the Bay of Islands in January 2017. While the megaliner Ovation of the Seas is only a few metres longer than the Queen Mary 2, which made its maiden visit to Northland in 2010, it carries almost twice as many passengers and is 20,000 tonnes heavier. At 348m long, it would tower 20m above Auckland's Sky Tower if you could place it on its end. Its total of 6500 passengers and crew is almost four times the population of Paihia, the town it will call in to. Read more here.
|
The upside to a dropping dollar: Tourism gets a liftThe sagging New Zealand dollar will provide an extra boost to the tourism industry, still glowing from a record summer season. The kiwi has slid against all the currencies of our major tourist markets, making this country more affordable for overseas visitors who are arriving in record numbers. Latest figures show there were just under three million visitors to New Zealand in the year ending May, up 7 per cent on the previous 12 months. May arrivals were up nearly 10 per cent on the previous year. Read more here.
|
|
