This year Hospitality New Zealand Wellington Branch added an innovative new twist to its traditional Annual General Meeting.
Taking place on Tuesday, July 9, the Wellington Branch hosted its first ever Hospitality Expo, which showcased the variety and quality of the region’s operators and suppliers.
The event was designed to be a celebration of the hospitality industry in Wellington and to showcase the positive role the industry plays in boosting the region’s local economy, tourism and employment.
By hosting this event, Hospitality New Zealand’s Wellington Branch also aimed to provide a well-earned evening of networking and entertainment opportunities for the employees, employers and suppliers that work towards making the city’s hospitality industry a world-renowned success.
The event was attended by Hospitality New Zealand members, along with their managers and other senior staff members, as well as industry suppliers and other key industry stakeholders.
Twenty two industry suppliers partnered with Hospitality New Zealand to make the event a success, including AMS Music, which supplied interactive music for the event, Bidfood, Gilmours and Brezelmania, which sponsored food, and Lion, DB, MoBev, Kegstar, Redbull and other local suppliers that sponsored beverages. Besides the food and beverage, key industry technology suppliers such as EFTPOS NZ, Seekom and Westpac also attended.
The event was MC’ed by Wellington Phoenix Commentator Jason Pine.
“The hospitality industry in Wellington has a key role in supporting the local economy, providing jobs and contributing to the capital’s cultural buzz, making it a must-visit destination for many tourists to New Zealand," says Hospitality New Zealand regional manager Nick Hill.
"By hosting the Hospitality Expo as part of our Wellington Branch AGM this year, Hospitality New Zealand wanted to showcase, celebrate and reward the hard work of everyone involved in keeping Wellington’s hospitality scene at such a high international standard.
“This year the Wellington Branch of Hospitality New Zealand wanted to create an innovative and interactive event that would allow both operators and suppliers to share and gain new knowledge to help them to run their businesses better," he says.
"Our aim was also to support and celebrate our members’ employees that make the industry a success through their hard work and dedication. We were consequently very pleased to see the large turnout of team members who, by all accounts, enjoyed a fun and insightful evening.”
