Southern Lakes will once again host New Zealand’s largest international travel showcase, TRENZ 2012, following on from its ground breaking success in 2011.

TRENZ is staged by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA). Traditionally held in the main centres of Auckland, Rotorua and Christchurch, TRENZ 2011 saw a change in format with the influential tradeshow based in the Southern Lakes regions of Queenstown, Fiordland and Lake Wanaka with Queenstown as the main hub.

Several hundred international travel buyers, media and other industry professionals spent several days in the region, immersing themselves in the spectacular landscapes, experiences and products the Southern Lakes region has to offer.

TIA chairman, Norm Thompson said the new location received overwhelming support from the industry.

“Queenstown performed superbly as a location for TRENZ, providing us with fantastic new opportunities to showcase both the region and New Zealand’s top tourism operators to our international delegates,” he said.

“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to once again host TRENZ in 2012. The new format and location were very well received by international buyers and media in 2011 and we’re looking forward to building on that success in 2012,” said Dave Hawkey, chairman of Southern Lakes. “The success of TRENZ in the Southern Lakes is testament to the strong co-operation between the Queenstown, Lake Wanaka and Fiordland areas. The Southern Lakes region is one of New Zealand’s most popular and diverse visitor destinations and having the event here this year provided a much-needed boost for the South Island following the Christchurch earthquake. We put out a strong message that New Zealand is open for business as usual and we look forward to showcasing our spectacular region to yet more of the world’s most influential travel buyers and media in 2012.”

Destination Queenstown chief executive, Tony Everitt, said he was looking forward to delivering another successful TRENZ in the region, saying,

“Queenstown is delighted to have been able to work with our good friends Lake Wanaka and Fiordland under our Southern Lakes umbrella to secure TRENZ for a second time. We thank organisers Tourism Industry Association for their confidence in us, as well as all the event sponsors involved in international marketing under Tourism New Zealand’s leadership.”

These sentiments were echoed by Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager, James Helmore who said he was looking forward to building on the success of TRENZ 2011.

“Having TRENZ in the region is hugely beneficial both for our operators in Lake Wanaka and also for profiling the wider Southern Lakes region. It’s fantastic to have this opportunity for a second year running and we look forward to working with Queenstown and Fiordland in delivering another memorable event for the key international delegates attending TRENZ.”

Lisa Sadler, manager of Destination Fiordland said, “The opportunity to build on the tremendous success of 2011 TRENZ is fantastic. We look forward to working with our partners to once again host delegates in true Southern style.”

TRENZ 2012 will take place on 7-10 May 2012 at the Queenstown Events Centre.

City.Mobi

Also in New Zealand today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Wellington.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Wellington.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.