Aussie travel agents visit Wairarapa

Barbara Hyde, Destination Wairarapa marketing manager, had met the 40 Australian travel agents when they arrived in Wairarapa last Wednesday. FILE PHOTO

Forty Australian travel agents visited Wairarapa last week in a bid to encourage a varied approach to New Zealand tourism and travel by industry leaders.

The two groups that visited Wairarapa locations were part of a group of 400 of Australia's highest performing travel agents, who visited regions and cities throughout New Zealand.

Destination Wairarapa marketing manager Barbara Hyde said she had met the 40 travel agents when they arrived in Wairarapa last Wednesday.

"All the things that we like, they like," she said.

"One lot of 28 came out on the Tranzit Martinborough Gourmet Wine Tour on the train from Wellington and were here for the day.

"And the other lot came down from Hawke's Bay and they went to Tui, Pukaha Mt Bruce, they stopped in Greytown, they went to Martinborough and did some sightseeing and wine tasting. It's a real voyage of discovery because they have very limited knowledge about New Zealand. Some haven't been here before, very few of them have been to Wellington, so it's a real bonus for them to be here and have that first-hand experience.

"Even on a short visit like this, we can show them a lot of stuff very quickly to give them a real flavour of the region."

Ms Hyde said the travel agents' experience in Wairarapa would help them to sell regional travel to Australians.

Tourism New Zealand's director trade, public relations and major events, Rene de Monchy, said he was thrilled that hundreds of top travel agents had had the opportunity to see for themselves what New Zealand had to offer.

"Visiting during September will help agents sell off-peak travel upon their return, in turn growing shoulder season travel to New Zealand and easing the peak season load," he said.

"I'm confident that this will lead to them selling more trips to New Zealand than before."