A group of Australian travel agents wore wide smiles after meeting Te Pito Whenua cultural group at Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Photo / Supplied
A group of Australian travel agents wore wide smiles after meeting Te Pito Whenua cultural group at Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Photo / Supplied
Australia's top travel agents took a whistlestop tour of Northland last week in the industry's biggest transtasman visit to date.
Four hundred of Australia's best travel agents - chosen for their sales performance and tenure - visited New Zealand last week for a five-day "trade familiarisation" (famil).
After a seriesof workshops in Auckland the agents split into 23 groups, each of which travelled to a different corner of the country.
Their itineraries were based on recent touring, cycling and ski New Zealand campaigns.
The 30-strong group that toured Northland visited Matakohe's Kauri Museum, the Copthorne Hotel at Omapere, Makana Chocolates in Kerikeri and Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where they were formally welcomed in heavy rain - perhaps not the ideal advertisement for shoulder-season travel in the North - by the cultural group Te Pito Whenua.
They then took in the sights of Russell, stopped at the Duke of Marlborough and spent the night at the Copthorne in Waitangi.
On their final day they went on a Hole in the Rock cruise with Fullers GreatSights and lunched at Alongside in Paihia before returning to Auckland.
Tourism New Zealand trade director Rene de Monchy said having 400 agents at once meant they would be able to visit more regions than any other famil in the past.
