Auckland tourism event set to stoke booming sector

Auckland will host the country's biggest tourism sales event this week.

Hundreds of travel buyers from around the world will be in Auckland this week at the tourism industry's biggest event that is set to stoke the booming sector even more.

International and domestic tourism is worth about $35 billion a year and more than 370 trade and tourism buyers will be at The Cloud along with industry leaders and politicians including Tourism Minister Paula Bennett and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry.

Ministers traditionally use the event to outline what is coming up in the budget and there is anticipation within the sector that there will be a boost for funding strained infrastructure in small tourism towns and on Department of Conservation land.

Bennett has said the government is aware of problems faced by small communities with low rating bases but has signalled the government is not keen on extra levies or taxes being proposed by other political parties and some in the tourism sector.

About 300 of the country's leading tourism operators will be exhibiting at Trenz which runs from Wednesday until Friday.

The event is organised by Tourism Industry Aotearoa which says demand from both buyers and sellers to attend this year's event had been extremely high and the event is at capacity.

"That high interest reflects the buoyancy of New Zealand's tourism industry which is enjoying record growth," said chief executive Chris Roberts.

The deals they made and relationships built generated tens of millions of dollars' worth of new tourism business for the New Zealand economy.

"These buyers are the most influential in terms of sending visitors to New Zealand. They are coming to Trenz to meet with 300 of the country's leading tourism operators and will be seeking new and exciting tourism products and experiences they can sell to consumers in their home markets,

Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development says the event will generate an estimated $2m for the Auckland economy.

"Auckland benefits from the immediate economic impacts of having the people attending Trenz staying in accommodation, eating in restaurants and experiencing some of Auckland's tourism activities," said Ateed's head of tourism Jason Hill.

Auckland Airport runs a summit on Tuesday in advance of Trenz where airline growth trends are outlined. Former TIA chief Martin Snedden is also speaking at the event.