Five things we learnt at TRENZ 2025

Sunday, 11 May 2025

Great expectations are riding on the tourism industry, with government and industry leaders determined to make it the country’s number one export again - despite some issues to overcome.

Hundreds of people descended on Rotorua this week for the 31st incarnation of New Zealand tourism’s biggest annual event, TRENZ.

More than 1200 delegates, including travel buyers from 26 countries and 350 operations, were there to talk business, network and trade ideas and learning.

Tourism is one of the country’s economic heavy hitters, with visitor spending generating about $44 billion in the year to March 2024, according to the latest Tourism Satellite data.

That amounts to about 7.5% of total GDP which makes it the country’s second highest export earner, and it also directly or indirectly provides jobs for more than 303,000 people.

So The Post joined the crowds at TRENZ to find out what is going on in the industry. Here's what we learnt.

Tourism could earn billions more

At a briefing on Wednesday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made it clear he believes the industry has scope to power up further.

Luxon said achieving the economic growth his government was “obsessed with” was possible if the country played to its strengths, and tourism as a “linchpin of the economy” was one of them.

“Last year, we welcomed over three million visitors to our country, which is a 12% increase on the previous year, but it’s still below where we were at pre-Covid.”

There wasscope for more growth and capacity for more higher value experiences, he said. “We are in the middle of the productivity table. If we push ourselves into the top 10, tourism could earn another $9b.”

The industry shared the prime minister’s ambitions, with Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram saying their members’ number one focus was business growth.

But industry leaders acknowledged there were some issues that needed to be addressed for tourism to reach its full potential.

Airline capacity needs to be increased

Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui said total international visitor arrivals into Auckland were now at 84% of 2019 levels, so there was still room to grow.

But while more people were travelling, there were fewer airline seats available for them, with airlines, such as Air NZ, dealing with fleet issues, she said.

“The reality is our ability to grow inbound visitation will increasingly be hamstrung without airline connectivity.”

New Zealand needed to fight harder than ever before to attract airline partners to increase seat capacity, and the airport was working hard on that, she said.

It’s time for visitor barriers to go

The number of tourists from the US and Australia have recovered to above or near pre-Covid levels, but Chinese visitors remain about 60% of 2019 levels.

China was considered a core market, while India had been flagged as a key developing market, but it needed to be easier for their citizens to visit New Zealand, Tourism NZ chief executive René de Monchy said.

“Most of the world can visit here for 90 days on a visa waiver programme, but China and India can not, and that acts as a barrier. People want things like flights and visas to be easy, so you want to remove any friction.”

One friction point is being removed, it was revealed at TRENZ. Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced that overseas visitor applications would no longer need to have the supporting documents certified.

Industry had told her the requirement, and its cost, was a big issue for many people whose documents were not in English, she said.

“We have removed that barrier, and brought our translation requirements in line with Australia’s. It is one of the things we are doing to make it clear to China that we are open for business.”

De Monchy said the change made visiting New Zealand a bit easier and cheaper, and that helped generate demand.

The industry is innovating & evolving

For Ingram, the change sends a clear message to the market, and is an example of the Government’s support for tourism - which is also evident in its $20 million plus tourism boost package.

The package includes $13.5m for Tourism New Zealand’s global marketing activity, funding for regional initiatives and business events, and provision for digital nomads.

“It is really creating momentum, because it says tourism is important to New Zealand and that gives an enormous amount of confidence to the industry.”

The Government’s focus on driving demand was positive, but it’s not just about numbers, she said. “It’s also about the evolving global tourism landscape, and the way experiences are provided and presented.”

That, combined with the drive to increase the value proposition of many operations, had led to the emergence of some distinct trends, such as wellness offerings, night sky events, and local food stories, Ingram added.

It had also resulted in an influx of new products, with 44 of them on show at TRENZ for the first time, and some well-known operators promising more to come.

AJ Hackett Bungy is set to unveil the country’s first three-person adventure swing at Queenstown’s Kawarau Bridge in August, for example. And Rotorua’s Redwoods Treewalks is opening a 70m glow worm cave experience in September.

Collaboration will be key to success

The need for collaboration and connections across the industry, and more broadly, was one of the clear messages to emerge from TRENZ.

Air NZ chief executive Greg Foran spoke of the need for tourism to have the blessing and support of New Zealanders, while the prime minister said it was necessary to work together to build the sector.

Ingram said relationships mattered more than ever, and that the industry was stronger when it worked across regions, sectors, and cultures — especially with mana whenua and local communities.

“Our superpower is our connectedness. New Zealand’s tourism industry might be small in scale, but we consistently make a splash on a world stage because we are nimble and connected.”

RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson pointed to the North Island tourism alliance announced on Monday as an example of why collaboration was critical.

“It represents a move beyond competition, and will help to shine the light not just on one particular region, but on the whole of the North Island as a destination.”

Another example was in Rotorua itself where the local council worked to develop the lakefront alongside one of the city’s new flagship attractions, Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa, and the result was special, he said.

“There’s a whole lot of heart in Rotorua, and we’ll continue to work with unity and vision, not just as RotoruaNZ but as a proud partner in the new alliance.”

– Miriam Bell travelled to Rotorua to TRENZ courtesy of Tourism Industry Aotearoa.