ATEED will represent a cluster of Auckland's trade ready Māori tourism businesses at the West Coast Tourism New Zealand Roadshow in North America, from 22 – 27 October, 2017.
Tourism New Zealand has organised two weeklong event roadshows following the opening of the Tuku Iho exhibition starting in Washington DC and Los Angeles. Each show is customised to showcase important East and West Coast US cities and will contain a mix of:
- Business to business exchange with influential North American buyers
- North American market update
- Exclusive events for top producing travel advisors
- Retail travel agent networking and training events.
Tuku Iho is an exhibition of time-honoured Māori artworks that features more than 80 pieces of art using wood, bone, stone and flax mediums, handcrafted by students and teachers at New Zealand Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI). In the past three years, Tuku Iho has exhibited in China, Malaysia, Chile and Argentina. The benefits of the exhibition extend beyond cultural engagement; enabling strengthened political relationships between New Zealand and the host countries, the forging of education partnerships and international trade opportunities. Tuku Iho also adds strength, dimension and authenticity to the associated tourism offer for Aotearoa New Zealand.
The USA is Auckland's third largest international tourism market in terms of visitor arrivals as well as continued opportunities for long-term market growth. According to Tourism New Zealand, United States visitor arrivals are strong and accelerating with a target audience of active considers within North America of over 30 million.
With continuous growth from the North American market, this roadshow will provide ATEED with the opportunity to continue to build Auckland's Māori tourism brand and generate leads for local Māori businesses.