There’s an element of anticipation in Rotorua right now with those working in the business tourism and tourism sector waiting in anticipation for the new year when the destination will finally be able to welcome trans-Tasman flights.
This is expected to see an upsurge in business from Australia, especially in the convention and incentive travel markets, where planners put huge emphasis on the ease of access to a destination.
While Rotorua has seen good business from Australia, access is an issue. A flight from Australia via Auckland and then a transfer onto a Rotorua-bound aircraft is relatively easy. But anecdotally at least, Australian convention and incentive planners are looking forward to direct flights to Rotorua in 2009 to reduce the time their delegates spend travelling.
This is especially important with current figures that show the length of conventions and especially incentive-style business has reduced considerably in recent years. Conferences that were once five or six days in length have been shortened to three or four, meaning that if travel can be limited to a half day or less the result is considerably better for the group, the event planner, and perhaps more importantly, the destination as a whole.
But even without the possibility of direct trans-Tasman flights at present, Rotorua as a convention and incentive travel destination really is bubbling along nicely. This is due in no small part to the opening last year of the state-of-the-art Energy Events Centre.
The Energy Events Centre opened its doors for the first time on February 20 to host the Learning@Schools national conference, welcoming more than 1000 delegates.
It is one of the largest facilities of its type in New Zealand and has positioned Rotorua alongside Auckland and Christchurch as a location for large-scale conferences and events - complemented by its already-established reputation for smaller and medium- sized conferences and exhibitions.
The Energy Events Centre’s vast Unison Arena seats nearly 3000 delegates theatre-style or caters for 2600 diners at a formal sit-down banquet, while its BayTrust Forum can easily accommodate plenary sessions for 800 guests.
Another large space in the complex, the Southern Trust Sportsdrome offers a venue for trade exhibitions or banquets. The football field length Grand Hall which can be transformed to provide combined exhibition space for 500 booths, with additional outside or marquee exhibition space are also available. Six breakout rooms of varying sizes complement the Energy Events Centre’s array of large meeting spaces.
The Energy Events Centre is part of the portfolio of Event Venues Rotorua which includes the established Rotorua Convention Centre, Civic Theatre, International Stadium, Soundshell, and historic Te Runanga Tea House.
To perhaps recognise the value of the Energy Events Centre to New Zealand as a whole, organisers of New Zealand’s largest tourism exhibition – TRENZ – took what some may say was a bold step by shaking off tradition and having the event hosted at the venue and in Rotorua.
TRENZ (Tourism Rendezvous New Zealand) is New Zealand’s largest international tourism business event. It features New Zealand’s leading providers of visitor accommodation, transport, activities and attractions, as well as destination marketers.
Managed by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) on behalf of the Tourism Industry New Zealand Trust, TRENZ brings together New Zealand tourism businesses (sellers or exhibitors) and buyers from New Zealand’s major and emerging visitor markets who come to purchase accommodation, transport and activities at wholesale rates. As well as being “the” place to conduct business it also results in substantial national and international publicity for the host destination, courtesy of the large number of invited media.
The 2007 event at the Energy Events Centre was considered such a success that the TIA and Tourism Industry New Zealand Trust decided to once again host TRENZ in Rotorua in 2008.
The event was this year held from May 26 to 29 with total attendees in the vicinity of 1200 which included 21 New Zealand media representatives and 25 international media. Early indications were, at the time of going to press, again favourable on the venue and the quality of the destination for an event of this kind.
The success of TRENZ in 2008 is yet another positive sign that Rotorua is gaining momentum, especially on the international stage. Also recently, Rotorua was named as one of the top 25 destinations in the South Pacific, as voted by users of TripAdvisor, one of the world’s biggest travel websites.
Rotorua won a Destination Award in the TripAdvisor 2008 Travellers’ Choice Awards, described by TripAdvisor members as being “a place of extraordinary natural beauty.”
Now in their sixth year, the Travellers’ Choice Awards are judged entirely by TripAdvisor members – all travellers themselves – and, according to the website, are among the most coveted awards in the tourism industry.
Rotorua was number 13 in a list of the top 25 South Pacific destinations which obviously pleased Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing’s general manager, Don Gunn, who said it was wonderful “to see such positive feedback, and it shows that travellers to Rotorua are enjoying their time here and obviously taking advantage of the wide range of activities available.”
And indeed they are. What’s more, Rotorua continues to develop a growing inventor y of attractions well-suited to the convention and incentive travel market.
New Zealand Riverjet recently launched a new adventure product called The Squeeze, which combines a classic NZ Riverjet run with a “hands on” geothermal spa experience. Targeting those with a sense of adventure, jet boat passengers disembark into a waist-deep, thermal stream. They then squeeze their way through a 30m long by three to 10 metre-high gap in a rockface to emerge in a stream surrounded by stunning native New Zealand bush.
A short walk away a hot waterfall and a deep natural hot spring offers an opportunity to enjoy beautiful surroundings while soaking in warm thermal waters.
Another new product, which opened in late 2007, is a treetops walkway at Paradise Valley Springs. Officially known as the Mamaku Ranges Treetops Rainforest Walk, the special feature of the new development is that part of the walkway is raised high above the forest floor giving a totally different perspective.
They even attracted more than 142 participants representing 23 countries and included as part of the program a symposium on conservation practices.
The week-long event saw anglers fishing five of the country’s top rivers and lakes. It was last held in Rotorua in 1991.
International organiser and president of Sport Fly Fishing NZ (Inc.), Jill Mandeno, said the event was an outstanding success.
“Several of the eight or nine veterans from the 1991 visit commented that the 2008 event not only offered the best championship fishing they had ever experienced, but that the organisation and their memorable, cultural experiences made this the best championship they had attended,” Ms Mandeno said.
The high standard for the entire event was set at the Te Puia opening ceremony, according to Ms Mandeno.
Te Puia’s entrance way, Te Heketanga a Rangi provided a spectacular backdrop for the formal opening with the teams marching in behind their national flags which then remained at Te Puia for the whole week of the competition.
The opening offered the international participants an intimate insight into traditional Maori culture.
“For the vast majority of our international participants, this was their first visit to New Zealand and they were absolutely fascinated by their experiences at Te Puia.”
The ceremony was led by the chief executive of Te Puia, Te Taru White who invited the President of FIPS-Mouch, James Ferguson, to formally open the event.
Ms Mandeno paid special tribute to Te Taru White who, following this formal part of the evening, held the audience enthralled as he recounted the legends behind newly developed Te Heketanga a Rangi. His explanation of the significance of the giant Pounamu (greenstone) boulder which graces the forecourt clearly touched many of the anglers. Numerous teams stopped to touch the boulder and to pose for team photos around it.
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