Otago's tourism professionals have an opportunity to attend a morning marketing strategy session held by Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) in Dunedin next week.
A commercial pilot has withdrawn his plans to establish a float-plane operation on Lake Wakatipu, first mooted in in 2009.
Trenz 2012 returns to Queenstown and the Southern Lakes in early May after $164 million worth of new business resulted from the trade expo's resort debut last year. Queenstown Times reporter James Beech tells you everything you need to know about the biggest event on the tourism industry calendar.
Three major international tourism expos are aligned for the first time in Queenstown this year, offering priceless exposure to thousands of trade and media delegates.
Tourism New Zealand's social media channels will soon be awash with young travellers offering up their most prized possessions in return for the chance to win the trip of a lifetime.
Summer trade exceeded expectations for less than half of about 250 tourism operators surveyed by the Tourism Industry Association (TIA) in March.
Queenstown is "a rising star on the world stage" and its regional tourism organisation is committed to achieving $1 billion in annual visitor spend in the resort by 2015.
Rugby World Cup 2011 chief Martin Snedden has been appointed as new chief executive of the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) and will begin in early June.
The Rugby World Cup helped take international visitor numbers to record levels last year - but they watched their pennies while they were here.
Like the majority of young visitors, Matt Schoonmaker-Gates, of California, is travelling on a budget and says charging international visitors to enter national parks would discourage people like him.
Travel advisories have been issued in Europe that theft is on the rise in New Zealand, as more visitors tell of holidays ruined by criminals targeting campervans.
Those wanting to go on their own tiki tour of Maori experience in the lower South Island now have a map to guide them.
Queenstown businesses reported an increase in the number of Chinese visitors last week and early this week, as the resort experienced a "record Chinese New Year".
Consolidation is inevitable in the tourism sector as operators face a particularly tough year, a leading industry player says.
A record number of Chinese tourists are expected in Queenstown next week, thanks to greatly improved air access and operators' efforts to boost the resort's New Zealand market share, Destination Queenstown says.
An expected Dunedin tourism boom from the Rugby World Cup last year was tempered by the ongoing impact of the Christchurch earthquakes.
The first rise in monthly guest nights in Queenstown since the Christchurch earthquake in February last year is "encouraging", but uncertainties in global tourism remain, which could affect the resort's prosperity in 2012.
Backpackers are still flocking to Christchurch as a must-stop destination, despite the earthquake-ravaged city's ongoing shaking.
The Rugby World Cup seems to have staved off any impact the global financial crisis might have had on tourist numbers to the Waitaki District.
Shops open in Port Chalmers on yesterday's public holiday enjoyed unexpected brisk trade as hundreds of cruise-ship passengers filled the town during a shortened visit.