DESTINATION NEWS YOU CAN USE
Tourism New Zealand to boost webinar programme
Juliet Dennis
juliet.dennis@
travelweekly.co.uk
Tourism New Zealand plans to step up its trade webinar programme and produce more training videos for UK agents.
The move comes as the tourist
board urges agents to encourage clients to explore more off-the- beaten-track destinations. It is targeting an increase of
NZ$1 billion (£503 million) in visitor spend in the country’s regions by 2023. Regions are defined as areas outside of the country’s key flight gateways. In the year to the end of August 2018, New Zealand’s 233,008 UK visitors spent an average of £2,282. Tourism New Zealand has now committed to a more structured webinar programme to drive agent engagement. Webinars for the trade will be held every two months instead of ad hoc. It has already run two webinars
since the summer and plans to hold four more by July 2019. Topics include regions such as Canterbury and the West Coast. Chief executive Stephen
England-Hall said: “The webinars
are a convenient way for agents to learn about New Zealand, particularly its regions. We are really stepping them up to reach more agents with more impact.” More than 145 agents signed
up to the first 30-minute webinar, about double the number that would have signed up a year ago. The number of agent training
videos planned, which cover everyday questions about New Zealand, will increase. There are currently five videos, but more are planned by the end of the year. England-Hall said: “We are
STEPHEN ENGLAND-HALL: ‘We need to promote less-well-known regions in New Zealand’
bringing out new training videos to help address barriers to [sales] conversions and informing agents about options for their clients.” There will also be trade
roadshows in Manchester and London next March. On encouraging visitors to
explore more widely, England-Hall added: “We don’t need to go out of our way to promote Queenstown, but we want them to think about visiting Southland and other
options that are less well known.”
newzealand.com
Sandals and Beaches join Caribbean’s fight against plastic waste by scrapping straws
Sandals and Beaches hope to drive a reduction in single-use plastic waste in the Caribbean by pledging to eliminate plastic straws from all 19 of their resorts by November 1. Sandals Resorts International
revealed its properties across Jamaica, the Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, Barbados and Turks & Caicos used 21.5 million straws and stirrers each year. Guests will now be given
eco-friendly paper straws on request. The company has teamed up with Oceanic Global, a not-for-profit organisation that suggests solutions for issues that have a detrimental effect on the world’s oceans. It is the first all-inclusive
operator to join the campaign. As well as the removal of
plastic straws, Sandals said it would “explore opportunities” to eliminate other plastics across its resorts by September 2019. The initiative is part of a
larger effort to reduce plastic waste in the Caribbean, which attracts more than 30 million visitors a year.
sandals.co.uk
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