Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
Tourism New Zealand is focusing on attracting more MICE groups from India. Speaking on the sidelines of the recently-concluded ‘100% Pure New Zealand’ campaign in Mumbai, Steven Dixon, regional manager – South and South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand stated, “We are looking at attracting the MICE segment from India since New Zealand is becoming a popular MICE destination among big groups. In November 2014, under the Tourism Industry Partnership, Tourism New Zealand signed a MoU with Immigration New Zealand and six key travel partners from India. The MoU aimed to attract business event visitors through faster processing time and reduced paperwork to the destination.” Presently, New Zealand is able to cater to events for 2,000-2500 people. In 2019, the New Zealand National Convention Centre will be opening in Auckland, which will seat over 3000 delegates. “Five star hotels are also being built in Auckland since we know that delegates who come for the convention will stay back to explore different parts of New Zealand,” explained Dixon.
Apart from MICE, Tourism New Zealand is also focusing on other tourism segments from India like VFRs, tech-savvy solo travellers, adventure travellers, Bollywood among others. “VFR is a big segment for us. We have around 150,000 Indians living in New Zealand, which is a substantial number considering we have a population of four million. India is one of our top markets for adventure. That doesn’t mean that Indians pre-book a package to go bungee jumping, etc. When they get to New Zealand, they drive along and stop at little towns and try out the activities there. Tech-savvy solo travellers are our other important market. We would like to have a Bollywood movie shot in New Zealand since we have the landscape and the accessibility to the landscape.”
Sharing the figures of Indian visitors last year, Dixon stated, “We finished 2015 just under 46,000, a 23 per cent up from 2014. We have doubled our growth over the last five years. In the next three years, we believe we will get upto 90,000 Indian tourists.” Indians travel to New Zealand during April-May-June and the honeymooners during November-December and February-March. “India is one of our top 10 source markets and Indians are one of the highest spenders, spending around NZD 3500. Our biggest source market is Australia, followed by China, US, UK, Europe, Canada,” he mentioned.