Diversity of cultural product captivates US wholesalers

The first-ever tourism trade mission involving dedicated Maori cultural product to land on United States’ soil has been completed, with those who participated reporting a successful mission which opened American eyes to what is now of offer in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Organised by Tourism New Zealand through its Los Angeles office, the week-long mission involved three New Zealand cultural operators, with the Poutama Maori Business Trust also sending a representative.

The three operators were Auckland’s Navigator Tours - Aotaeroa New Zealand’s only specialist Maori in-bound tour operator - and Wairakei Terraces and Whirinaki Rainforest Guided Walks, both Taupo-based.

The mission was conducted under Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Pure Enterprise promotional programme, which takes a maximum of four operators into a major market.

The objective of this 100% Pure Enterprise programme was to provide the New Zealand tourism operators with the opportunity to learn about doing business in North America, to initiate relationships with key decision-makers, to learn how the Maori cultural product fitted with current tour programmes and to provide the American tour companies with an understanding of the New Zealand product, key selling points and export readiness.

The trip to the United States involved 18 appointments in five days in Seattle, the Los Angeles area and Hawaii and demonstrated just how important it is to visit countries like America, according to Wairakei Terraces’ Jim Hill.

“If you are export-ready it is a must to go into these markets,” he says. “Hearing first-hand what the sellers of our products want from operators here is really important.

“It is also crucial to meet these tour wholesalers face-to-face and to begin to develop that relationship. It is more personal than trying to deal with them by phone, fax or email in a bid to get them to put your product in their brochure.”

Thus TNZ’s promotional initiatives, such as the 100% Pure Enterprise programme, are essential in cutting through the clutter and putting New Zealand tourism operators - Maori in particular - directly across the table from the owners and key decisionmakers in the major US tour wholesale companies.

John Panoho says involvement in the mission provided him with the opportunity to provide US tour companies - for the first time - with information on how much Maori tourism has progressed and the fact that specialist cultural products are now being packaged into modules for ready-sale to travel consumers.

“We were encouraged by the

response of all the wholesalers we met with in terms of the desirability of the type of product we brought to the mission,” he says.

“There is definite interest in modular tours for Free and Independent Travellers and special interest itineraries that access extraordinary Maori experiences.”

John says the US mission was invaluable in that it sowed the seed that Maori tourism experiences should not be marginalised into any tick box - that the experience of engaging with Maori, their special places and hospitality is something that can and will be accessed in every corner of Aotearoa New Zealand in future.

Poutama Maori Business Trust’s Richard Jones says for him, participation in the mission was essentially a fact-finding exercise centred on gathering up information on the type of cultural product North American travel consumers are seeking and then working to match that demand with Maori operators in this country.

“The 100% Pure Enterprise programme was great to participate in and having a Maori tourism focus was a first of its kind for the US market,” Richard says. “It is hoped that similar programmes will be made available in future for more Maori tourism operators to participate in.

“Poutama Maori Business Trust is keen to support future initiatives of this kind. There is little doubt in my mind that Maori tourism is ideally suited to meet the needs of the type of visitor Tourism New Zealand is targetting, the Interactive Traveller.”