Tourism NZ: Tourism on the agenda at Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum

The ANZLF is a significant event, bringing together leaders from business, government and the community with the aim of further developing bilateral relationships and joint relations in the Indo/Asia-Pacific region.

The Prime Ministers of both countries will be in attendance, along with other senior political figures from both sides of the Tasman.

During the forum, Trans-Tasman challenges and opportunities will be discussed in the ANZLF's five sector working groups: agribusiness, tourism, infrastructure, health technology and innovation.

Specific focus areas for Tourism New Zealand at the forum will be tourism investment and innovation, and attracting more conferences to New Zealand from Australia.

"The international conference sector holds significant potential to attract high-value visitors to New Zealand - a key focus of Tourism New Zealand's strategy. International delegates spend roughly twice as much per night than general leisure travellers, they come in the shoulder seasons, and they visit more regions, helping to drive sector productivity and regional growth," says Stephen England-Hall, Tourism New Zealand's Chief Executive.

"We've recently seen an increase in preference for New Zealand as a conference destination in Australia thanks to increased flight connectivity and capacity making it easier than ever to get here.

"The event provides an opportunity to connect with key business leaders in Australia to convince them that New Zealand is the ultimate destination to hold their next conference."

Tourism New Zealand is a platinum partner of the forum, working in conjunction with the Trans-Tasman Business Circle - a strategic growth partner for Australia & New Zealand's leading corporate organisations in the private and public sectors.

Founder and Managing Director of Trans-Tasman Business Circle, Johnny Weiss says the organisation is excited to be partnering with Tourism New Zealand.

"The Trans-Tasman Business Circle welcomes this wonderful initiative to work alongside Tourism New Zealand at this event.

"Through our partnership we aim to encourage the Australian corporate sector to discover the stunning conference destination that is New Zealand, just a three hour flight from Sydney."

As part of the ANZLF a televised Prime Ministers' luncheon is also taking place where Tourism New Zealand will host a table of clients.

View a summarised version of Tourism New Zealand's speech at the event: