Orbit says business travellers want more face-to-face action as economy picks up

The New Zealand International Convention Centre has already booked nine events set to host 15,500 people from the middle of next year to mid-2028. Photo / Michael Craig

For a long time, belt-tightening bosses have said “no” to business travel.

But more local firms this year seem keen on sending staff overseas as the value of in-person meetings endures, a travel management company says.

Kate Rawnsley, new chief commercial officer at Orbit World Travel Hamilton and Tauranga, said her customers had recorded a 15% increase in corporate travel so far this year compared with early 2024.

And she said transtasman travel among her clients had significantly increased in the year so far.

“For some of our clients, we have a lot of export partners that are exporting to Australia, and then over to the [United] States, which also shows where our people are travelling to.

“If that’s where the exports are going, then that’s where they’re going – to see their customers.”

Last year, New Zealand had its worst non-Covid recession since 1991.

“A lot of people had to knuckle down last year around their spend,” Rawnsley told the Herald.

“Coming out of Christmas into 2025, the throttle turned on and everyone needed to get out and see their customers, do that face-to-face, and even for us internally, we have such a strong focus on being in front of clients.

“The strongest indication we have around that is a lot more conferences and in-person conferences.”

She said it was harder to pick up on emotional intelligence cues with video calls.

SkyCity last week revealed the International Convention Centre had already booked nine events set to host 15,500 people from the middle of next year to mid-2028.

Rawnsley said more businesses also seemed keen on awards ceremonies, client-facing events, and other ways to bring people together.

Brent Thomas, Orbit World Travel director, said increased transtasman flight capacity was a major factor impacting business trips now.

“Once you’ve got that competition, there is elasticity of supply and demand, and that assists in terms of corporate travel as well.”

He said there was a lack of supply despite reasonable demand in late 2023.

“They were price-takers rather than being a price-maker,” Thomas said of business travellers at that time.

And last year there was a reduction in demand due to the sluggish economy, he said.

Now, it seemed a better balance had been achieved.

“Airlines are responding and they’re getting more of these planes coming on tap and they’re looking for the opportunity,” he said.

“As an exporting country, we have to go out and meet our customers, and we have to go out and meet our suppliers.”

He said more relatively cheap seats were now available.

“The conversations to encourage tourism back into New Zealand are all about bringing that capacity back into the market. And that’s really good from an outbound point of view because we backfill those planes.”

Stats NZ data showed more overseas tourists visited last year than in 2023, with some record numbers from the US.

But overseas visitor arrivals in December 2024 were still 11% below pre-Covid levels.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) data for January showed Asia-Pacific carriers contributing to most of the increase in worldwide total passenger traffic, and domestic traffic in China up 10% year-on-year.

Thomas said even if a specific major economy such as China picked up, sparking more travel demand from New Zealand, it often took time for airlines to adjust.

“We can only encourage the airports and the Government to work closely with those opportunities because it’s going to be essential for the country.”

Rawnsley said some local firms wanting to visit regional New Zealand were being more proactive.

She said some clients were switching to “non-traditional carriers” such as Air Chathams and Originair.

“So it might be a higher price point, but it is more productive for them to do that.”

Originair destinations include Nelson, Westport, Hamilton and Palmerston North.

Kate Rawnsley, chief commercial officer at Orbit World Travel Hamilton and Tauranga, says some business travellers are switching to regional operators such as Air Chathams. Photo / Jack Penman

Rawnsley was broadly upbeat about second-quarter prospects.

“There is a lot more hope out there for a lot of businesses. There are certainly still a lot that are hurting and have had to really pull back on their travel.

“But for some of our bigger clients and new clients ... we are seeing really positive signs around that continuing to increase, which is great.”

As for employees wanting to attend events but still facing management reluctant to spend anything on travel, Rawnsley said: “The feedback we’re getting from our clients is you’ve got to do that business face-to-face.”

Rawnsley previously had more than a decade with the Chiefs, including as the rugby franchise’s commercial GM.

She said based on recent feedback, there was strong interest from the aviation and accommodation sectors to build relationships by visiting their contacts and customers.

“We have every airline possible, hotel properties coming in, and they come and see us in both Hamilton and Tauranga. They come into the office and they want to talk because they want to build that relationship. And obviously, that starts to build out that loyalty.”