New Zealand’s Tourism Industry Association (TIA) will unveil its blueprint for the future of the country’s tourism sector at an event in October 2013. The Tourism 2025 strategy will be launched at the 2013 TIA Summit, taking place in Wellington on 1 October 2013. The one-day event will aim to showcase the development of New Zealand’s tourism industry, and will culminate with a dinner celebrating the launch of the Tourism 2025 strategy. “At the 2012 TIA Summit in October last year, we challenged the tourism industry to take a ‘Think Different’ approach to addressing long-standing issues and engaging new opportunities,” said TIA’s chief executive, Martin Snedden. “As a direct result, we will be ready to launch Tourism 2025, a framework created by the industry, for the industry, providing tourism in New Zealand with a sense of how a cohesive industry can consistently operate successfully within a fast-changing and increasingly competitive global tourism market.” TIA said it is working with both the private sector and public sectors to develop the plan, which aims to “unite and inspire the industry to adapt and succeed”. It will focus on improving tourism operators’ yield, profitability and return on investment, and is also expected to prepare the country for a strong rise in arrivals from Asian markets, especially China. Forecasts released by the New Zealand government this week show that visitor spend is expected to grow 18% between now and 2019, from NZ$5.5 billion to NZ$6.5 billion a year. Registrations for the 2013 TIA Summit are now open. Source: Travel Daily