The group will add about $2million to Dunedin's economy just by attending Tourism Industry Aotearoa's (TIA) four-day Trenz event at the Edgar Centre, but their ability to boost tourism is worth much more.
Trenz opened last night at Forsyth Barr Stadium in a rugby-themed event that featured the likes of former All Blacks Richie McCaw and Keven Mealamu, Black Fern Selica Winiata, junior players welcoming guests, and southern food and drink.
TIA chief executive Chris Roberts said Trenz was worth tens of millions of dollars to New Zealand.
At the event, international travel and tourism marketers negotiate new business deals with several hundred New Zealand tourism operators.
This year, 387 buyers arrived from 27 markets from Australia to the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, and emerging visitor markets such as Brazil and the Philippines.
The event has been described as ``business speed-dating''.
``These buyers are not small fry,'' Mr Roberts said.
Rather, they were ``big behind-the-scenes players who shape how international visitors experience New Zealand''.
``Over the next three days, they will hold more than 16,500 15-minute meetings with the tourism operators, which will result in tens of millions of dollars' worth of new business for the country's tourism industry.''
More than a quarter of buyers at last year's Trenz event each sent more than 5000 visitors to New Zealand every year.
While the stadium was transformed from a rugby ground to a trade conference opening venue last night, the Edgar Centre will today open with hundreds of stalls set up by tourism operators.
Emerson's Brewery last night released a special-edition Dunedin Golden Ale developed specifically for the event.
When it was announced last year the event would be held in Dunedin, it was welcomed as a great opportunity for the local tourism industry.
Operators are showing their wares to buyers not just at the Edgar Centre, but on familiarisation tours in the region before and after the event.
Mayor Dave Cull said at the opening that attracting Trenz to Dunedin was ``a huge coup'' for the city, and also for Waitaki and Southland, which are co-hosts.
