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Tourism New Zealand champions its conference winners

Sep 28, 2022

Tourism New Zealand celebrated World Tourism Day by acknowledging the New Zealanders who make international conferences possible.

The Tourism New Zealand Business Events National Awards, held at the national museum Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington last night (Tuesday 27 September), recognised the contribution of key New Zealand industry leaders and academics.

Working in sectors ranging from robotics to pest management, cyber security to autism research, these experts in their field worked alongside Tourism New Zealand and its convention bureau partners to secure high-profile conference wins for the country.

Following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 events due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s National Awards recognised 61 conference champions from across New Zealand who have successfully bid for and won international conferences.

René de Monchy

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive René de Monchy said, “The hard work of these influential and talented individuals plays an integral part in attracting these events to our shores. In the last financial year alone, New Zealand won 34 conferences, estimated to be worth $41.6m to our local economy.”

“Business events are extremely important to New Zealand’s tourism industry – attracting high-quality visitors to New Zealand. Conferences provide an opportunity to share knowledge, forge business relationships, and showcase local talent, tourism experiences and our unique culture. The Business Events National Awards are about celebrating the efforts of individuals who have put bids forward so that they can continue to bid for international conferences and encourage their colleagues to do so as well. ”

“While the pandemic stopped the last two Awards ceremonies, the substantial number of ambassadors celebrated this year is testament to the fact that our conference champions never stopped working. Bidding activity continued, and Tourism New Zealand is proud to support this. The business events industry is building a strong pipeline of high-quality visitors to New Zealand for the coming years.”

Tourism New Zealand will also plant a native tree in honour of each of the National Awards recipients through environmental charity Project Crimson’s Trees That Count programme. The gift further extends each conference champion’s contribution to New Zealand and supports World Tourism Day’s theme of regenerative tourism.

Further information is available at https://www.newzealand.com/int/.