Co-hosts of the New Zealand Hotel Industry Conference (NZHIC), the New Zealand Hotel Council and Horwath HTL Ltd, have announced that the 2012 event will be held at Pullman Auckland hotel on Thursday 31 May 2012.
The 2011 conference, opened by the Prime Minister and the Tourism Minister the Rt Hon John Key, was attended by approximately 300 delegates, sponsors and exhibitors including hotel management, owners, developers, hotel chains, suppliers, hotel distribution companies, central and local government agencies and professional advisers in the hotel industry (including lawyers, banks, valuers, architects, real estate firms and interior designers).
The 2012 hotel conference, whose Platinum Sponsor is again the global hotel chain Accor, will provide attendees the opportunity to gather valuable information, business improvement advice and market knowledge from international and local specialists on key hotel industry topics.
The topics planned to date for the sixth annual conference include the outlook for global and domestic economies and impact on tourism, hotel branding, hotel management leadership, hotel demand and supply outlook for major visitor destinations, hotel room technology trends, best distribution channels for the China market and online / social media distribution systems trends.
There will be four keynote addresses, two plenary sessions and four breakout panel sessions at the hotel conference.
The conference dinner is planned to include an expanded New Zealand hotel awards celebrating excellence in the hotel industry, including Senior Hotel Executive of the Year, Outstanding Young Hotel Executive and Environmental Sustainability.
Registrants to the New Zealand Hotel Industry Conference will gain complimentary entry to the technical seminar on the afternoon of the Wednesday prior to the hotel conference. This three-hour interactive seminar has discussed key issues in investment, sales, valuation, management contracts and Unit Title Act in relation to the hotel industry.
The conference is timely given the recent overseas arrival forecasts issued by the Ministry of Economic Development highlighting China will be the “powerhouse” of visitor growth to New Zealand in the next several years, the aftermath of the Rugby World Cup, the short to medium impact of the Christchurch earthquake on visitor flows, most of our traditional overseas visitor economies in turmoil or struggling, and little new hotel and serviced apartment developments in most centres in New Zealand.
Background on previous hotel conferences can be found on the hotel conference website at www.nzhotelconference.com