Tourism New Zealand, in partnership with Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines, successfully organized in-person product trainings across three cities aimed at enhancing the knowledge of travel trade partners about New Zealand. This collaborative effort highlighted the distinctive tourism offerings of New Zealand’s off-peak seasons, in autumn, winter, and spring, while underscoring the seamless connectivity between India and New Zealand through Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines.
The series of trainings took place in Ahmedabad, Kochi and Kolkata between January – February 2024. A total of 185 travel agents actively participated in the trainings and the sessions provided valuable insights into the diverse tourism experiences New Zealand has to offer.
Gregg Wafelbakker, General Manager Asia, Tourism New Zealand, expressed his satisfaction with the outcomes of these collaborative efforts, stating, “Our joint initiative with Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines underscores our commitment to bolstering trade capability and facilitating the conversion of visitors in the off-peak. These face-to-face trainings have proven to be instrumental in equipping travel agents with the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively promote New Zealand’s unique tourism offerings. We are delighted with the enthusiastic response from the travel agent community, and we remain dedicated to fostering such partnerships to further enhance New Zealand’s appeal as a premier travel destination.”
“Joint trainings conducted with Tourism New Zealand are vital in equipping trade agents with relevant destination knowledge and to boost affinity for New Zealand. With the recent joint venture alliance extension with Singapore Airlines, we’re further committed to ensuring network connectivity and to bring more visitors to New Zealand. Our partnerships remain important to boost trade and tourism, and to provide visitors with more choices and connectivity from anywhere to New Zealand,” remarked Johnathan Zhang, General Manager Asia, Air New Zealand.
“Singapore Airlines (SIA) is honoured to have partnered with Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand for this tripartite trade engagement roadshow in Ahmedabad, Kochi and Kolkata recently. New Zealand is a key outbound destination for SIA from India, and the roadshow gave us the opportunity to not only showcase our world class product offerings to the trade, but also helped us to reinforce the strength of our network between the two countries.
SIA flies 96 times weekly from 8 cities across India, and our partnership with Air New Zealand offers our customers even more connectivity options to choose from when flying to New Zealand via Singapore. We are confident that this roadshow has equipped agents with the right tools and information to drive consideration for New Zealand as a great holiday destination for travellers from India,” commented Sy Yen Chen, General Manager India, Singapore Airlines.
The success of these joint trainings signifies a significant step forward in strengthening the capabilities of travel agents and promoting New Zealand as a preferred destination for Indian travellers.
