"With the Continental Cup Olympic qualifier coming up at the Mount [in mid-February], we're just using the opportunity to experiment with different scenarios," Pitman said.
"We'll need to make the top three at the Oceania qualifier to make the top 16 in the Asia final in China, so there's no harm in mixing it up this weekend."
Sweden's Hannes Brinkbourg and Steffan Gunnarson (30th in the world) and the US's Ed Ratlege and Jesse Rambis will arrive to play on the pared-back national tour.
Pitman said the Mount was becoming a training mecca.
"A lot of teams go to the Canary Islands to train but now the sun's out the Mount is ideal, especially for the Kiwi teams wanting to get some quality training in."
Dutch team Marleen Van Iersel-Sanne Kaiser, seventh in the world and with two world tour event wins last year, will also pop up on the national tour.
National tour spokesman Richard Casutt said the international interest was in contrast to the small-scale national tour, which survived last summer on volunteer labour after a lack of sponsorship forced the previous organisers to walk away.
"The [global] financial crisis and the funding into the Rugby World Cup has seen the sponsorship market remain extremely tight, with Volleyball New Zealand unable to secure any sponsors or promoters for the 2012 series," Casutt said. "But the beach volleyball community are still here and have taken on the challenge again."
National tour events:
Karapiro Open, Lake Karapiro, January 20-22.
North Harbour Open, Mairangi Bay Beach Volleyball Centre, January 27-29.
Hamilton Open, February 3-5, Te Rapa courts.
NZ Open, Mount Maunganui, February 10-12.