31 May 2004 - News Briefs from NCC (New Zealand) Ltd
CHRISTCHURCH: New appointments at NCC (New Zealand) Ltd
Catherine Smith has just been appointed Sales Administrator with special responsibilities for the domestic market, and wedding packages. Catherine has held customer service and management roles in the tourism and hospitality industries for 10 years. She also has experience in both office accounting and administration. Catherine has ATITB Level One Travel and Tourism. "Having worked extensively within Customer Service and also being a professional musician, I am aware 'both sides' of the event process and the importance of building positive and professional relationships, whilst being focused on the small details, in order to achieve outstanding results for the client, " Catherine said.
To contact Catherine Ph (+64 3) 363 3355 or
Peter Maddock has recently been appointed Event Coordinator for the Christchurch Convention Centre, Town Hall and 8888-seat Westpac Centre for Sport and Entertainment. Peter completed a BA in English and History while he was working at the venues in the Operations team so he has a thorough understanding of how the buildings can best be used. "This new role is very exciting for me. I find the opportunity to be involved in the planning process very attractive after many years of working events from an operation point of view," Peter said. Peter is a well-known rugby player. He's captain of the Hornby Senior Division 1 Club Rugby Team, played at representative levels for the region and Canterbury Maori, and was a trialist for the 2002 Manu Samoa National Team.
To contact Peter Ph (+64 3) 366 8899 or
CHRISTCHURCH CONVENTION CENTRE: TRENZ 2004 The Hon Mark Burton, Minister of Tourism, officially opened TRENZ 2004 at the Christchurch Convention Centre on 24 May. The 1500 guests were given a welcome from Ngai Tahu, Riki Tau, and the Ko Tane cultural group. Christchurch singer Anika Moa and Rhian Shihan provided entertainment while guests enjoyed New Zealand iconic foods - such as mini pottles of fish and chips, mini-venison pies, fresh seafood and succulent meats. TRENZ is New Zealand's largest annual international tradeshow and delivers a unique business opportunity for international buyers to reach quality tourism operators. More than 400 tourism products, services and attractions exhibited at the trade show held at the Westpac Centre for Sport and Entertainment on 25 May.
WESTPAC CENTRE: TRENZ 2004 serious about the business of tourism More than 400 of New Zealand's top and highest quality tourism products were exhibited at the Westpac Centre for TRENZ, the largest annual tradeshow for international tourism, 24-25 May. More than 30,000 pre-scheduled appointments between global tourism buyers and exhibitors took. TRENZ was staged by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand with support from Tourism New Zealand, Air New Zealand, Qantas and other industry partners. NCC (New Zealand) Ltd is delighted that TRENZ 2005 will also be held at the Westpac Centre for Sport and Entertainment. Cathy Hemsworth, Sales & Marketing Director, said Christchurch was well prepared for hosting the event. "We even briefed the taxi drivers and transport providers so anyone involved with TRENZ would get a great welcome to the city." There was a huge response from South Island tourism operators, including several first time exhibitors who put a very high value on the networking opportunity TRENZ offered. Cathy Hemsworth said it would be impossible for many of the newer and smaller operators to ever reach such a significant group of serious buyers and the benefits will flow on for several years. The Westpac Centre offers the country's largest expanse of flat floor space and is proving to be both popular and successful at hosting international tradeshows and exhibitions.
CHRISTCHURCH CONVENTION CENTRE: Christchurch is facing an incredibly busy winter. More than 250 events involving more than 100,000 people are being held at the Christchurch Convention centre, Town Hall and Westpac Centre in the period May - October. It will have a positive impact on accommodation, transport providers, restaurants, retail and entertainment, and tourism activity. Conferences range in size from to 80 - 1000 delegates. Several trade expos, trade shows and exhibitions are being held, including two major shows with global buyers: TRENZ in May catering for tourism buyers, and MEETINGS in July, providing for the meetings industry buyers. Awards ceremonies include Sport Canterbury Awards and Motor Sport Awards. Sports fixtures include Canterbury Rams, Canterbury Flames, Christchurch City Marathon, Netball New Zealand (30 June)and the Tall Blacks (10 July).
CHRISTCHURCH CONVENTION CENTRE: Taxi drivers and transport providers were being given a morning tea, a special briefing and an information pack about the many diverse events happening in the city this winter. On 4 May Cathy Hemsworth, Director Sales and Marketing for venue manager NCC (New Zealand) Ltd, welcomed the drivers and said they played a very important part in the visitor industry. "The city plays host to global buyers in the visitor, travel, incentives and meetings market, bringing in the major decision makers of tourist and conference activity. We wanted to give the transport providers information on these and other upcoming events and explain the major trade shows. We cannot put a value on the benefit of hosting these events and we want to make sure transport operators are best prepared to help. We know how visitors expect taxi drivers to know everything that's going on - so we are helping them be prepared for any questions about the events!" The Christchurch Convention Centre and Town Hall is New Zealand's largest conference facility, generating an estimated $50 - 70 million a year in direct economic benefit.
Ends
Images to accompany all these news briefs are available as jpeg files, on request to and in particular we have an excellent range of images from the official opening and tradeshow from TRENZ 2004.