“We see business events as a segment that we will probably need to spend a lot more time, energy and focus on, because some organisations will do better than others out of this and they will have the capacity to travel.”
Conventions & Incentives New Zealand chief executive Lisa Hopkins said the country’s events sector “might be a comparatively small industry, but we pack a mighty punch”.
“The flow-on effect of business events, culturally, socially, economically, supports the measurement of successful tourism and the objective to enrich the country. Working with Tourism New Zealand on this new framework will provide an opportunity to stimulate all regions, not just the major cities, initially with domestic events.”
Hopkins added that before Covid-19, 70% of all meetings of under 100 people were domestic, which showed there was strength in the segment.
“Our interest will, of course, be on international, ideally Australia and then beyond, which of course has a number of dependencies associated with it. This may work well for us, given the unusually long lead times involved with some of the larger events, which will still play an important role in our overall recovery.”