KEY POINTS:
For many New Zealand businesses, wooing an overseas client into coming for a visit is a big deal. Chances are, because you want their custom, you've been over to see them a lot, so when they come to New Zealand you want to knock their socks off.
Many
people have a pre-conception of what New Zealand is like. They know the landscape is meant to be stunning, they may have heard the wine is decent, but that is often the extent of their knowledge. However, if they feel their trip to Aotearoa has been specially tailored to their interests, they are more likely to leave with fond memories and a broader appreciation of the culture and lifestyle.
For some foreign visitors, catching fish on a deserted beach and cooking it for dinner is one of the most amazing things they'll ever experience. If your guests are into ornithology, take them bird-watching, or if they're interested in history, provide them with the chance to meet a historian or a Maori elder.
A travel consultant specialising in tailoring experiences for in-bound visitors, can be a good investment.
Auckland-based Bridget Hackshaw interviews companies to establish what they want for their visitors and develops an exclusive package.
She will often introduce them to her own passions of New Zealand art, food and wine - one interesting trip she has organised was for art enthusiasts who were able to stay in a luxury cottage next to Nelson-based artist Jane Evans.
Great Barrier Island is another of Hackshaw's favourite destinations _ guests stay at Awana House, which is energy self-sufficient and built with local materials. Guests are taken back 50 years in time, albeit in luxury.
On the island, Hackshaw can organise nature walks with a local conservationist to view kauri trees, thermal streams and isolated beaches.
For the sea-hardy, a fishing trip for marlin, snapper and bluefin tuna may be thrown in. A chef will cook freshly caught snapper, with salad from the garden, homemade bread and pinot gris.
Some tourism experts spend their whole lives dreaming up "knock-your-socks-off" itineraries, so if it is a customer you treasure, put them in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing.
Hall Cannon, owner of Christchurch's luxury Otahuna Lodge has a drawer full of itinerary ideas for overseas visitors.
His most decadent day trips starts with a helicopter pick-up from the great lawn at Otahuna, a flight over Canterbury Plains and through Waimakariri Gorge, then a stop for tea or champagne on the Waimakariri River. After lunch among the vines at Pegasus Bay Vineyard in the Waipara Valley, the return flight swoops guests along the striking coast, over Christchurch City and the Port Hills.
Cannon, an American who owns the lodge with business partner Miles Refo, sees a trend for people to come just to New Zealand when travelling from the US or the UK, rather than also including Australia.
"People want unique experiences. They want to do things they know they would not do anywhere else."
- Detours, HoS
