The level of industry excitement reached fever-pitch at Sat night’s TAANZ NTIA25s—and that was before the doors opened on what is lauded as the biggest and most inclusive industry awards in recent years.
“The energy and the vibe in the room was incredible,” says TAANZ vice president Tori Courtney. The Auckland event celebrated winners across 19 diverse categories, who each took home a surprise seven-night Viking cruise for two. But it was also undoubtedly an industry-wide celebration. The night’s ‘collegiate feel’ reflected the general unity of the rebooted travel industry. The sector has gone from struggling to survive to, without a doubt, thriving; and while there’s healthy competition, there’s also greater collaboration across the retail chains.
While the industry is continuing to build momentum, so is TAANZ. The agent body’s ceo Julie White took a low profile on Sat—but she has been working hard with the board to get a solid foundation in place to allow TAANZ to now be in a position to move forward across a number of initiatives. That behind-the-scenes work culminated in a tourism minister attending the event for the first time! The Hon Louise Upston also took the time to discuss the sector, its challenges and its opportunities with the TAANZ board and the retail chain heads before her keynote address.
. . . Turning Point
Courtney says the minister’s engagement and address to the sector on Sat signals a ‘turning point’ for the TAANZ-government relationship. “We’ve never had a minister this engaged in our portfolio since I’ve been involved—and for the first time I feel like we’ve got a minister who we can get engagement with to actually drive change and support for our industry, and I think she’s getting prime ministerial support,” she adds. Andrew Bowman was among the night’s winners, being inducted to the TAANZ Hall of Fame. While the industry veteran is still in shock about his award, he says he’s just as focused on growing the industry and attracting new people to the sector. At the same time travel agency of the year Quay Travel is embracing AI, retail consultant of the year, Belinda Fifield credits her win to teamwork and a customer centric approach.
See pics HERE
