Tourism remains strong in Southland

The Southland region attracts a range of international tourists who enjoy a variety of activities and contribute greatly to the local economy. According to the Commercial Accommodation Monitor which tracks bed nights in commercial properties, 884,280 visitor nights were spent in the Southland region in 2008. 391,950 of these were domestic visitors and a further 492,330 were international. 2007 Ministry of Tourism Forecasts suggest that in total, 1.4 million visitor nights were spent in Southland with international visitors accounting for 487, 900 of these and domestic travellers the remaining 914,300. Venture Southland recognises the benefits such visitors bring to the region and have recently attended several events in an effort to entice more international visitors to Southland.

Tourism Marketing Manager, Lisa Buckingham spent the last two weeks of July in the UK and Europe on an IMA (International Marketing Alliance) trip co-ordinated by Tourism New Zealand. A total of nine IMAs and fifteen representatives attended the event. Lisa attended with Kate Rushbrook from Tourism Dunedin, the two were representing the Dunedin Southland IMA. Tourism New Zealand brought together product managers and frontline staff from a range of key wholesale travel companies. Meetings were held in London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Munich. Product managers from Spain, Denmark and Ireland also travelled to London to meet with the New Zealand delegation. Wholesalers play a key role in marketing New Zealand, producing brochures that are then sold in retail stores or online to the consumer. Venture Southland’s aim is to inform product managers and frontline staff on all that Southland has to offer and encourage them to include Southland in more itineraries.

The Australian market provides Southland with the greatest number of international visitors so Tourism Marketing Co-ordinator, Kerryn Smith recently spent six days in Australia on the ‘Great New Zealand’ Roadshow which was run by Kirra Tours, a key wholesaler in Australia.   Venture Southland shared a booth with Destination Fiordland. Six cities were covered including Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane and each city included a two hour travel agent session and a three hour consumer session. The roadshow provided an excellent opportunity to upskill travel agents on Southland and encourage consumers to include Southland when planning their trip to New Zealand. A total of 28 operators and regional tourism offices attended the roadshow.

International visitors often rely on travel agents to book their holidays and many wholesalers utilise the services of an inbound tour operator. Venture Southland recently had a stand in Auckland at the Dunedin Southland Trade Day, an event that targets inbounders.

Tourism Marketing Manager, Lisa Buckingham; Invercargill i-SITE Manager, Kath Cook and Events & Conference Marketing Manager, Amanda Dowling all attended the Dunedin Southland Trade Day in Auckland on Wednesday 19^th of August. The event targeted product managers and frontline staff from inbound tour operator companies during the day and then Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs) in the evening.

Businesses from Waitaki, Dunedin, Central Otago and Southland all attended the event. Southland stands included Venture Southland, Mohua Park Eco Cottages, Southern Aqua Adventures and Stewart Island Experience.

The event provided an excellent opportunity to promote Southland’s product offerings to trade who sell to a wide range of markets. Interest in new product was high and many attendees were also looking to update their knowledge on existing product in the region.

Southland tourism operators are now preparing themselves for the summer season. There is some uncertainty how the recession will affect bookings but Venture Southland is confident the marketing efforts such as the IMA visits, roadshow and trade day will support attracting more international visitors to the region.