Mr Arrowsmith, who is also General Manager for Tourism Bay of Plenty said in a statement: "I have been privileged to host TRENZ in my role as Chairperson for Explore Central North Island (ECNI) and this has given greater exposure and international recognition for the Bay of Plenty,"
"Holding the TRENZ Event in our region has enabled us to show the best of the region off to the International travel trade. Rotorua hosting the event again in 2016 will further cement the Bay of Plenty's increasing popularity as a destination for international visitors."
"The Ministry of Economic Development's report into economic growth for the Bay of Plenty identified tourism as a key growth lever for the region," said Mr Arrowsmith.
"Such international exposure is key to increasing the number of international visitors, their length of stay and spend in our area." he said.
Arrowsmith and Honorable Prime Minister John Key met again this morning during the Prime Minister's visit to TRENZ, where he spoke of the value of tourism to New Zealand and the key growth opportunities for the coming years.
Local tourism operators who took part in TRENZ included Trinity Wharf Tauranga, Guided Footprints, Waimarino, White Island Tours, Frontier Helicopters and Mataatua.
These operators were equally thrilled with the sales opportunities created for their businesses.
Every fifteen minutes for three days operators met with influential international buyers to promote their tourism offering and encouraged them to consider the Bay of Plenty as a fresh tourism option for international visitors.
Blair Anderson, owner of Waimarino, has exhibited with Tourism Bay of Plenty four times over the past seven years.
"It is extremely valuable to be seen at Trenz, create contacts and network as it all leads to positive business in the future," said Mr Anderson.
"Because of our presence at Trenz we are now an export business, employing 40 locals and have grown significantly through the international exposure and travel trade relationships forged at Trenz." he said.
Drew Copestake, Experience Manager at Experience Comvita, who is new to exhibiting at Trenz said he expects the opportunities that have been enabled through TRENZ to be "enormous" for their business but won't be able to quantify the increase in visitors for up to 2 years.
"The 80:20 rule applies where 20% of our appointments in the last 3 days will deliver the increase in international visitors to our business that we are targeting. The unscheduled networking is also priceless." said Mr Copestake.
Amanda Howard, owner of Guided Footprints said one appointment alone has opened up the South East Asia market with a successful contract for her private special interest tours being offered to SEA visitors.
"This is my second year at TRENZ and I will definitely be back, especially as it will be held in our region again next year. That constant exposure to international buyers is fundamental to my business growth." she said.
