It's Trenz time again and Rotorua is gearing up to have a prominent and significant presence at the annual tourism industry expo.
Despite the additional cost of travelling to Queenstown, which hosts the event for the first time, the Rotorua section of the expo boasts the same number of exhibitors as
last year's event in Auckland.
The team from Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing co-ordinate the themed corridor of Rotorua operators and general manager Don Gunn said there were 18 stands in the Rotorua area again this year.
"Distance is a key factor and there are costs involved in getting people down there and paying for accommodation. But our numbers are still good."
Other local operators will also exhibit at the three-day event, from Monday to Wednesday, with their national organisations or in particular interest areas.
About 280 exhibitors and 300 international buyers and media are registered to attend and Gunn said Destination Rotorua had a full schedule of nearly 100 appointments.
"We are talking to people from all sorts of markets - from Asia and Malaysia to the United States, Australia, China and the United Kingdom."
International sales manager James Fitzgerald said the smaller Queenstown Events Centre venue meant a revamp of the Rotorua stalls to fit the smaller stand sizes, but the general concept remained.
"We still have the big images that are unmistakably Rotorua, it's just a smaller version. The main disadvantage to the event being hosted in Queenstown is that the buyers are staying down there. When it was in Auckland, the last couple of years, a lot of people came down here for a few days afterwards."
Regent Rotorua is the only newcomer on the Rotorua block for 2011 and co-owner Darryn Whitehead is looking forward to the opportunities it will create.
"We went to a Tourism New Zealand expo in the UK last year and had a really good response. We will be trying to cement those relationships at Trenz and look towards the US, Asia and Australia."
He and Brent Webster bought Kawaha Point Lodge last year and plan to launch the new luxury offering next week as part of the Regent package, featuring its boutique, central city hotel, the lower-cost Regent Flashpackers accommodation and the luxury lakeside property.
