Hilton works to attract Kiwi employees

3 News reported that more chlidren than ever are growing up in Queenstown, but very few are choosing a career in the resort’s hotels.

Hilton Queenstown Hotel is hoping to buck that trend and is going out of its way to attract more school leavers into the resort town’s booming tourism industry.

It is just a short walk around the lake from their school, but it is one hotel bosses hope will be the beginning of a much longer journey.

“I think that hospitality really has a great opportunity for people that want to see the world,” says hotelier Chris Ehmann. “For Hilton we have got 4500 hotels [in] 94 different countries, so if you start working in a hotel there are huge opportunities to travel with your career as well.”

But he says it is tough to get Kiwi staff, and just a handful of his hail from New Zealand.

So it is hardly surprising the Hilton has partnered with local education providers. Queenstown school children are getting a head-start as part of the hotel’s international careers week, with some of the skills they are learning no doubt a welcome addition at home.

But making beds well and learning how to meet and greet customers is just the tip of what the partnership is teaching these youngsters.

“They learn values about self-managing, about time management, about how to respect, and that ownership of their own identity within a community environment,” says Debbie Dickson, Remarkables Primary principal. “[They also learn about] the starting of a work environment.”

So far the enthusiastic youngsters have kept their five-star experience professional.

“We haven’t had any food fights in the kitchen yet but I think they really enjoy themselves,” says Mr Ehmann. “Let us hope that they take it all in and join us for a career future.”

Read the article and watch the video.

Why a travel tax is wrong

Thank you to everyone who has provided such positive feedback on TRENZ 2015. We are proud to have delivered such a successful event and it’s a joy to work in such a positive industry full of smart and innovative people.

Tourism workforce set to grow almost 40%

That’s an increase from the current 94,100 to about 130,000 FTEs.

The research, released yesterday (18 May 2015) at TRENZ 2015 by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA), forecasts the tourism industry’s labour market needs for the next 10 years. Carried out by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), it was released in conjunction with new government tourism forecasts showing that visitor arrivals are expected to climb to 3.75 million by 2021, up from 2.9 million last year.

TIA Chief Executive Chris Roberts says the predicted growth in visitor numbers and visitor spend is great news for New Zealand. It confirms that the industry is tracking well towards meeting its Tourism 2025 goal of almost doubling total tourism revenue to $41 billion.

“But it also presents us with challenges – in particular, how we are going to service all our visitors and ensure they enjoy an outstanding visitor experience,” Mr Roberts says.

The projections suggest that the workforce directly employed in tourism needs to expand by around 3600 FTE workers a year for the next decade. In addition, there will need to be significant job growth in sectors that indirectly support tourism.

“Some regions will require more workers than others. Regions like Auckland and Otago attract a large proportion of international visitors, driving localised labour demands higher. We are forecasting that tourism labour market needs in Auckland could lift by 54% by 2025 and by 46% in Otago,” he says.

“And as our visitor mix continues to evolve, shifting towards increasing numbers of visitors from the Asian region and China in particular, we expect increased demands for language skills. At the least, most employees will need a solid understanding of the cultures of these new visitors to New Zealand in order to deliver a premium visitor experience.”

Not only does the labour market need to adjust to the volume increase in visitors, expected growth in high value visitors will bring demand for employees with the skills to deliver premium visitor experiences, the research finds.

It also explores which occupations are likely to experience the greatest demand, finding that many more accommodation managers and hospitality workers will be required. Some skilled niche occupations like adventure guides will also need to grow.

“So we have a big challenge ahead, especially as we know that employers in some regions, in particular Queenstown, are already struggling to find enough staff,” Mr Roberts says.

“TIA is working with the tourism industry to develop a People & Skills Strategy which looks at how to attract more people to work in the tourism industry in the short, medium and long term. This work is progressing well and we expect to launch it publicly later this year.”

Read the report.

China strategy pays off big time

Whale Watch Kaikoura has told Stuff.co.nz that despite five years ago going against the grain, calculated efforts to attract independent visitors are paying off, big time.

The operation banked on a large increase in independent travellers rather than taking packaged tours. General Manager Kauahi Ngapora said the industry was skeptical five years ago that the number of FITs from Asia would increase so quickly, but they’ve been proven right.

“The first few years were very hard, but independent travellers are our fastest growing market now,” he said.

The number of Chinese visitors to Whale Watch Kaikoura has soared by more than 200% in fours years, and the operation is forecasting numbers to double again within the next five years.

A five years strategy involved a range of bold moves, including increased marketing in China and hiring Chiense-speaking marketing and communications specialist in 2010.

“We’ve made many trips to China, and we work with Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism, Real Journeys and Ngai Tahu Tourism. It’s a collective South Island pitch.”

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Wellington Airport record international traffic

“77,000 people, more than twice the capacity of The Stadium travelled to and from Wellington Airport in April, an increase of 17% and our biggest month ever,” said Matt Clarke, Wellington Airport’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Wellington Airport has invested significantly in route development with airlines and at the end of last year announced new services with Jetstar to Melbourne and Gold Coast and Fiji Airways to Nadi. The three new international services will deliver an annual increase of 165,000 seats, reducing travel costs and improving connectivity to Asia and North America.

Over the last twelve months, 786,000 people flew internationally to and from Wellington and with the new services we are forecasting 15% increase in seat capacity over the next year.”

There has been strong and sustained demand Wellington’s international services, with loadings on aircraft the highest ever experienced at the airport, giving the new international airlines the confidence to enter into the market.

“More passengers are using Australia as the hub for their long haul travel to Asia, Europe and North America highlighting the preference to travel internationally all the way using airline partnerships.”

Melbourne in particular is now Wellington’s fastest growing and most competitive route. It has extensive onward connections throughout Australia, Asia and Europe. The stronger link with Melbourne’s four million residents and two cities renowned for their events will be great for travellers. The market between Wellington and Melbourne has been growing at 6% per annum over the last 8 years.

“Fiji Airways new year-round service to Nadi with onward connections to LA will commence in late June and add up to 34,000 seats to Wellington’s market. Airline investment is a great indicator of market demand and growth in international traffic to and from Wellington,” said Mr Clarke.

Qantas offers three flights a day to Australia connecting to the extensive Qantas/Emirates global network. Air New Zealand and Virgin fly year-round to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.