North opens arms to Aussies

A group of Australian travel agents wore wide smiles after meeting Te Pito Whenua cultural group at Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Photo / Supplied

Australia's top travel agents took a whistlestop tour of Northland last week in the industry's biggest transtasman visit to date.

Four hundred of Australia's best travel agents - chosen for their sales performance and tenure - visited New Zealand last week for a five-day "trade familiarisation" (famil).

After a series of workshops in Auckland the agents split into 23 groups, each of which travelled to a different corner of the country.

Their itineraries were based on recent touring, cycling and ski New Zealand campaigns.

The 30-strong group that toured Northland visited Matakohe's Kauri Museum, the Copthorne Hotel at Omapere, Makana Chocolates in Kerikeri and Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where they were formally welcomed in heavy rain - perhaps not the ideal advertisement for shoulder-season travel in the North - by the cultural group Te Pito Whenua.

They then took in the sights of Russell, stopped at the Duke of Marlborough and spent the night at the Copthorne in Waitangi.

On their final day they went on a Hole in the Rock cruise with Fullers GreatSights and lunched at Alongside in Paihia before returning to Auckland.

Tourism New Zealand trade director Rene de Monchy said having 400 agents at once meant they would be able to visit more regions than any other famil in the past.

Holding the "mega famil" in September would help the agents sell off-peak travel once they returned home, she said.

With some destinations unable to take any more visitors during the summer months, Tourism NZ is trying to encourage shoulder-season travel.

The Northland leg of the trip was hosted by Northland Inc, Scenic Tours and Tourism New Zealand.

The Auckland workshop featured a masterclass with Sugar Club head chef Neil Brazier.