New Zealand's focus is on Indian business travellers

New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) A new approach focusing on increasing the number of Indian business travellers to New Zealand has been adopted by the country's tourism board, which is all set to push into the business events and incentives market.

Mischa Mannix-Opie, Tourism New Zealand's regional manager, South and South East Asia, said that the expanded focus will not affect the promotion of New Zealand as a prime holiday destination.

"We have developed a business events strategy in the last 12 months and it is now being implemented in key markets around the globe, including India, as it provides strong opportunities for New Zealand," Mannix-Opie told IANS.

"New Zealand is already an inspirational destination for Indian businesses that run incentive programmes and we believe there is plenty more growth in this segment, given the exceptional product that we offer," she added.

According to the tourism board, 25,995 Indians visited the country in the fiscal ended February 2010. The figure rose to 30,304 in the fiscl ended February 2011 and settled at 28,684 in the fiscal ended February 2012.

The number of visitors from India that indicated "business" as their main purpose for being in New Zealand for the fiscal ended February 2012 was 2,300.

Speaking on leisure travel, Mannix-Opie said that Indian travellers tend to visit the country after the conclusion of typical summer high-season which helps tourism operators through the shoulder season.

"So, we can never afford to ignore the leisure travellers," Mannix-Opie said.

According to her, several honeymoon packages have been launched by the board while many more are in the pipeline.

"New Zealand has something for everyone. It is a mix of beautiful landscapes, adventure activities and rich history in the form of several places of historical importance," Mannix-Opie said.