Tourism Minister Stuart Nash spoke at Day One of MEETINGS today, hosted at Te Pae Christchurch.
In his opening speech, he said he continues to understand the value that the business events sector brings to the wider economy.
“Business is rebuilding for the sector. In this financial year alone, Tourism New Zealand has supported more than 30 international conferences to be hosted here in the coming years. We are looking forward to booking an incredibly diverse range of international experts and their fields range from volcanologists to pest control specialists, surgeons and more.”
This is supported by the recent news that Christchurch will host the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Congress in 2024.
“All the data shows that international conference visitors actually spend more than any other sector of the visitor economy," Nash said.
“We also know that delegates who have a really good experience here often come back as tourists, hence the reason it is so important we give them a world-class experience here; they leave as storytellers and come back with their family and their friends and spend a lot of money.”
April 2022 saw the inclusion of business events in the Events Transition Support Payment Scheme – a scheme designed to provide the confidence needed for organisers of large-scale events to continue organising their events over 2022.
“This was testimony to the importance of these events as well as advocacy of Lisa; she pushed very hard for this, and we wanted to continue to organise events in an uncertain COVID-19 operating environment.
“I am however optimistic that events are unlikely to need to draw on this going forward,” Nash said.
He said he’s advocating for high value, high quality tourists, and that event delegates fit well into that category.
“We want visitors that are respectful, that are environmentally conscious and engage with the local communities and culture,” he said.
“As such, business events visitors will have an important part to play in our tourism future."
Nash said the stories told by visitors tend to hold more weight than those told by travelling Kiwis, and those stories are shaped in a range of ways.
“We all have a role to play in creating the stories that will be told about Aotearoa New Zealand.
“I’ve said numerous times that we can go out into the world and tell our stories, but we know that the stories told by those who come here as visitors are the ones that really make a big difference.
“Visitor experience is shaped by the good things – the rides they take, the hotels they book, the attractions they see and the activities they do.
“But visitor experience is also shaped by the little things, and we know as business travellers ourselves. It’s the little moments that people remember – the interactions they have with cabin crew, the concierge at check in, the waiter at the local café, the event staff at the conferences they attend.”
Nash said the typical Kiwi ‘number eight wire’ mentality is old-school and that it’s time to stop relying on ‘seat of our pants’ planning.
“We must use the uniquely challenging circumstances we find ourselves in to spur development in new ideas and do it in a way that has integrity and depth,” he said.
“[We need] new ways of doing business to reconnect with our markets, value chains and business partners.
“The new $54 million Innovation Programme for Tourism Recovery that I had the pleasure of announcing as part of Budget 2022 is designed to develop these real and transformational solutions to help create a regenerative tourism model that will drive us forward.
“The Prime Minister thought the big initiatives that need addressing are decarbonisation and sustainability of the industry are initiatives that provide technological solutions to lift productivity and capability.
“Because of this, the programme is likely to be based on the sustainable co-investment model so our government and the industry share the risks associated with the transformational innovations.
“Engagement with the stakeholders on the detailed perimeters of the Innovation Programme for Tourism Recovery has already begun, and I met a group of invited stakeholders at a meeting in Wellington last week.
“I look forward to seeing business events not only recover, but absolutely thrive and take things to the next level in a post-COVID world.”
