Independent traveler numbers exceeding tour groups Photo: Melanie Phipps
With the launch of the NZ-China Year of Tourism now just a month away, how well equipped is NZ to grow the industry and what flow-on effect will a luxury visitor market have on the regions? An agreement to improve tourism marketing and economic ties between New Zealand and China was signed in 2017, and the New Zealand-China Year of Tourism 2019 launches formally at Te Papa in February. So will it translate into high value visitors rather than merely higher volumes of tourists, and how geared up are we for it?
Director of AUT's New Zealand Tourism Research Institute Simon Milne, Chairman of the NZ Chinese Travel and Tourism Association Simon Cheung and MBIE's discuss with Kathryn Ryan.
