Recently, Tourism New Zealand announced the 2016-2017 list of 17 New Zealand Preferred Partners (Premium Kiwi Partnership, hereinafter referred to as PKP) and 8 Online Partners (Online Travel Partnership, hereinafter referred to as OTP), while acknowledging the industry’s contributions in actively promoting new regional products and raising awareness of self-drive safety.
China remains New Zealand’s second-largest source of tourists. As of July 2016, annual visitor arrivals from China to New Zealand had exceeded 400,000, marking a year-on-year increase of 27.9%. David Craig, General Manager of Tourism New Zealand Asia Pacific, said: “The quality of travel experiences in New Zealand is our top priority. Especially in recent years when the number of Chinese visitors to New Zealand has reached new highs, New Zealand tourism has still maintained an excellent reputation among Chinese travelers. For two consecutive years, it has been ranked as the most satisfying outbound destination in the annual outbound travel report released by the China Tourism Academy. This is inseparable from the support and contributions of our travel industry partners. We appreciate their outstanding efforts and hope to continue offering Chinese travelers even more pristine and diverse travel experiences in New Zealand in the future.”
The “PKP + OTP” model is a strategic combination implemented by Tourism New Zealand to manage quality in both group tours and independent travel markets: PKP focuses on premium group tours, while OTP targets independent travel, fully leveraging the resource advantages of various travel partners to continuously enhance the travel experience of Chinese visitors to New Zealand. The new cohort of PKP and OTP partners are all high-quality travel agencies that have demonstrated outstanding performance in the number and quality of tourists served over the past year.
In recent years, self-drive tours have become one of the favorite ways for Chinese tourists to explore New Zealand. Three travel industry partners who have made active contributions to promoting self-drive safety in New Zealand were recognized. The Honorable John Key, Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism of New Zealand, specially sent a congratulatory letter and video message to express his thanks: “An increasing number of Chinese tourists are choosing to visit New Zealand independently, but New Zealand’s driving environment is vastly different from that of China, which means that tourists opting for self-drive tours need sufficient information on self-drive safety. Public safety is of utmost importance to us. We thank our Chinese partners for their efforts, which have brought tangible improvements to the cooperation between China and New Zealand, and we hope they will continue to contribute to self-drive safety.”
As New Zealand tourism matures in the Chinese market, Tourism New Zealand has shifted its promotional focus to off-peak travel, promoting new regions, and developing diverse themed travel options. The award-winning travel agencies have shown outstanding performance in developing and promoting new products, especially in new regions, standing out with high service quality and creative itinerary planning.
The following is the list of award-winning travel industry partners (in no particular order)
2016to2017Annual New Zealand Preferred Partners(Premium Kiwi Partnership):
Shanghai Spring International Travel Service (Group) Co., Ltd.
Shanghai China Youth Travel Service
Shanghai China Travel International Travel Agency Co., Ltd.
Shanghai Ctrip International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Shanghai Jinjiang Travel Co., Ltd.
Shanghai China Travel International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Shanghai Airlines International Travel (Group) Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Shengjing International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Beijing Caissa International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
CYTS Sightseeing Travel Branch
China International Travel Service Head Office
Beijing Huayuan International Travel Co., Ltd.
Beijing UTour International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Shenzhen Zhongqiao International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Shenzhen China Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Guangdong Nanhu International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Guangzhou Guangzhi Travel Service Co., Ltd.
2016to2017Annual New Zealand Online Partners(Online Travel Partnership):
Ctrip International Travel Agency Co., Ltd. Shanghai
Tongcheng Travel
Tuniu Travel Network
Alitrip (AliTrip)
Baicheng Travel Network
Qunar
Booking.com
Qyer
New Zealand Central Region Tourism Product Promotion Awards:
Best Partnership Award:
Beijing CAISSA International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
CYTS Sightseeing Travel Branch
China International Travel Service Head Office
Beijing Huayuan International Travel Co., Ltd.
Beijing UTour International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
China Travel Service Head Office (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
Best Contribution Award:
Ctrip International Travel Agency Co., Ltd. Shanghai
Mint Holidays
Shanghai China Travel International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Shanghai Airlines International Travel (Group) Co., Ltd.
Shanghai China Travel International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Best Innovation Award:
Guangzhou GZL International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Shenzhen CYTS New Scenery
Outstanding Contribution Award for Self-Driving Safety Promotion:
Ctrip International Travel Agency Co., Ltd. Shanghai
Qyer
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