The Tourism Industry Association announced on Friday buyers were expected from visitor markets all over the world to meet about the same number of New Zealand tourism operators and negotiate contracts for the coming tourism seasons.
The association said operators who exhibited at last year's Trenz said it generated a total of $164 million in new business.
Southern Lakes operators and organisations benefited by being able to exhibit their products so close to the expo venue at the Queenstown Events Centre.
"The high buyer interest reflects visitor arrivals to New Zealand which, despite natural disasters and economic woes in some of our traditional visitor markets, increased by 3% in 2011," association communications manager Ann-Marie Johnson, of Wellington, said.
"That contrasts with Australia, which saw international visitor arrivals decline slightly last year."
Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said buyer numbers were looking "fantastic" and Trenz 2012 was shaping up to be a hugely successful event.
"Total buyer numbers have already surpassed last year's, which clearly shows the international demand for travel to New Zealand is strong. The tourism industry has shown itself to be resilient to the challenges of 2011 and interest in Trenz is a positive signal for 2012.
"We are seeing more buyers than anticipated coming in from Australia, Germany and the United States and solid numbers from China. These are the markets that Tourism New Zealand has prioritised for growth and working alongside trade is a critical component to achieving the target of increase in visitor numbers."
Mr Bowler said there was also solid interest from Japanese buyers and "we are confident that we can capitalise on this to support positive changes in the market".
Qantas New Zealand and Pacific Islands regional general manager Rohan Garnett said the high number of buyers from international markets attending Trenz 2012 was a positive sign interest in New Zealand as a destination remained strong.
"The importance of New Zealand to world tourism is clearly reflected in these buyer numbers.
"We are looking forward to meeting with the delegates at Trenz this year and seeing further growth in international arrivals to New Zealand over the next 12 months."
