Tourism

Waitaki tourism has gone against the national trend with an increase in tourists to the area last year, boosted by more New Zealand visitors.

An Australian media personality arrives in Dunedin today to film a series aimed at promoting the city and surrounding regions to Australians.

Anyone flying to Australia and the Pacific on Air New Zealand from late this year will have four options of service priced accordingly, with the bottom option challenging budget airlines.

Treble Cone skifield has shelved plans for its $20 million gondola "indefinitely" and will instead spend $200,000 on a five-year project to install safety barriers on its 7.5km access road.

Wakatipu locations feature in all five movies which competed in Tourism New Zealand's 100% Pure Your Big Break short film competition and which are posted for a worldwide audience online.

Eight Queenstown companies are taking their sustainable practices to new levels. They are taking part in a programme run through the Centre for Sustainable Practice at the Otago Polytechnic.

Uncle Sam is getting an expensive megaphone to tell the world's tourists, "I want you".

Queenstown has recorded the largest increase for guest nights over the summer in New Zealand, with a 33,000 increase in January 2010, compared to the same time last year.

Queenstown hotels weathered the storms of global recession and swine flu by capitalising on the "massive influx" of 106,000 more Australians last year, according to the New Zealand Hotel Council (NZHC), which met in the resort this week.

An independent commissioner will preside over a hearing for a proposed $4 million tourism venture at Cromwell later this month.