HAVING previously targeted its attention on the leisure sector, Tourism New Zealand is rolling out dedicated efforts to woo more MICE business from South-east Asia.
A new three-year marketing plan was unveiled in June, with a worldwide budget of NZ$34 million (US$28.2 million) earmarked for the next four years, representing close to an 80 per cent increase in funds from a low base, according to Mischa Mannix-Opie, regional manager South & South East Asia of Tourism New Zealand, which is participating in IT&CMA for the first time this year.
In the pipeline are stronger marketing efforts for Indonesia and India, which have been identified as emerging markets for the destination.
“India will see a quadrupling of budget and increase of human resources (from two to four staff) while Indonesia – which used to be managed out of Singapore – will see a new office with three staff opening in Jakarta later this month,” commented Mannix-Opie.
“We will look at conventions and incentives from Singapore, and incentives from Malaysia, Thailand and India, where we had been more reactive than proactively going out with a plan to attract business partners and develop a quality base of leads,” she added.
At the same time, the NTO is keen to attract more business events from Asia-Pacific to New Zealand; the coming months will see the addition of a new role in Singapore and two roles in China to cultivate New Zealand’s visibility in the regional corporate world, with ongoing support from the regional offices.
Earlier this month, Tourism New Zealand launched a business events-specific campaign, 100% Pure New Zealand – Beyond Convention, alongside a newly revamped website (www.businessevents.newzealand.com) to showcase the country’s strengths as an incentive as well as conference destination.
Read more in the IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific Show Daily
