Coach company spins magic at 2008 Tourism Industry Awards
06 Aug 2008
New Zealand’s top tourist operators have been recognised in the country’s annual Tourism Industry Awards with a flexi travel network taking out the supreme prize for 2008.
Magic Travellers Network, which runs a fleet of hop-on-hop-off coaches for independent international travellers, received the Air New Zealand Supreme Award at a special ceremony in the South Island city of Christchurch last night (August 4).
Judges said that Magic Travellers Network represents quality in every single aspect of their business - from infrastructure to the way they manage their staff, and their outstanding customer service.
Sustainability focus
The Tourism Industry Awards recognise the tourism industry’s top performers and celebrate the achievements of the industry as a whole.
This year’s awards reflected the industry’s commitment to sustainability and rewarded businesses with a future-focus on sustainable business practice.
"The winners of these awards are dedicated to the pursuit of business excellence. With companies like these driving the future of tourism in New Zealand, we can be confident that the industry can overcome some of the challenges created by a changing global market," Tourism Industry Association Chief Executive Tim Cossar said.
Award highlights
Major category award winners:
Visitor Activities and Attractions - Agrodome (Rotorua)
Visitor Accommodation - Grand Mercure St Moritz (Queenstown)
Tourism and Transportation - Magic Travellers Network
Other significant award winners included:
Philips Innovation Award - Air NZ Grabaseat
Westpac Small Tourism Operator Award - Skydive Lake Wanaka Ltd
Department of Conservation (DOC) Conservation in Action Award - Karori Sanctuary (Wellington)
Special award recipients:
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Export Award - Real Journeys (Fiordland)
Green Globe Sustainability Award - The Langham Hotel, Auckland
Qualmark Mark of Quality Award - Magic Travellers Network
Individual awards were presented to William Goodfellow from Explore New Zealand - PATA Young Tourism Professional of the Year, and Kiyomi Gunji of Southern Travel Holdings - the Horwath Sir Jack Newman Award for services to the industry.
The Tourism Industry Awards are supported by Tourism New Zealand. In 2009, one criteria of entry to the Awards will be that a business must have Qualmark accreditation if applicable. The Qualmark logo is New Zealand’s Mark of Quality to the international market.
Key statistics about tourism
- Tourism is the world's fastest growing industry.
- New Zealand tourism arrivals have increased by 61% since 1999 to 2.4 million.
- Forecast annual growth is 4% on average for at least the next five years.
- Tourism is New Zealand's single largest export sector. International visitors contributed $8.8 billion dollars to the economy in the year ended March 2007 ie 18.3% of exports.
- Domestic tourism contributes $11.3 billion to the economy each year.
- Tourism directly and indirectly employs 9.7% of the work force ie one in 10 jobs in New Zealand.
- Tourism directly and indirectly contributes 9.2% ($14.1 billion) of gross domestic product and generates $605 million in GST returns from international visitors each year.
- Tourism is the only export sector whose international clients pay GST.
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