I will be stepping down as the CEO of Conventions and Incentives New Zealand (CINZ) in early April 2014 after 25 years at the helm. During my tenure with CINZ I have observed some significant changes to the convention sector, particularly regarding the New Zealand scene. The biggest change is that until recently the convention sector of tourism was regarded by most in the New Zealand industry as the ‘Cinderella sector’ and it did not receive anywhere near the investment that was needed to put New Zealand on the world map in terms of marketing spend and infrastructure development.
I must admit the first 10 years of my tenure was like wandering in the wilderness looking for fellow travellers. Many hoteliers had short term views on the type of business they wanted to attract, and you could see their eyes glaze over when you tried to tell them about how the international association market works, particularly in terms of the long lead times involved. The pressure for New Zealand hoteliers, is that it is all about the next quarter’s earnings, and the strategic vision required to service the convention sector has until recently been missing.
So what has changed during my time? Well, the good news is that in the last two years the New Zealand convention sector has got itself a great champion with our Minister of Tourism, John Key, who also coincidentally happens to be our Prime Minister. We managed to reach out to him early on in his tenure to convince him of the value of the convention sector, and illustrate what needed to be done in terms of new convention infrastructure.
It is most pleasing to reflect that he was absolutely convinced about the business argument and has put his shoulder to the wheel in terms of promoting and advancing the need for New Zealand to develop world-class, large scale international convention facilities. The most obvious example of this is the proposed international convention centre to be located in the SkyCity precinct in Auckland, which will have a capacity of 3,500 and hopefully, will be up and running by 2017.
The other major development plan for New Zealand is the replacement of the Christchurch Convention Centre which was destroyed by the 2011 earthquake, and the intention now is to build a brand new centre in the CBD in Christchurch with a capacity of up to 2,500 delegates. Also in the pipeline, is a proposed new 1,000 capacity convention centre in Queenstown, which arguably is ‘the jewel in the crown’ in terms of New Zealand tourism destinations, particularly in the all-important Australian market.
If we also consider some of the doomsday scenarios that were forecast many years ago with the advent of new technology, particularly around video conferencing and the like, I can report that while this technology is embraced by many organisers and venues, in no way has it come close to competing with the more traditional conference model. New technology enhances the current convention offering, and provides organisers the ability to beam in speakers live from anywhere in the world, thus saving considerable costs in terms of travel and accommodation. Everybody needs to embrace new technology in whatever form, but as long as my backside points to the ground, there will never be a substitute for a convention that involves human interaction.
Sure, technology can enhance the programme but in no way will it ever replace the traditional conference model. This tells me that we will have a sustainable industry going forward, and in fact, given the increased demands on our time, through technology, and specifically the need for increased responses to our customers’ demands in terms of RPFs and the like, the need for all of us to get out of our normal office space and interact with our fellow human beings in convivial circumstances is stronger than ever.
I am prepared to go to the next chapter in my life knowing that I leave an industry in good heart with excellent prospects for the future and, most importantly, New Zealand will take its rightful stage in the international convention market because of the significant new infrastructure around convention centres that will be coming on stream in the next few years.
This was first published in issue 74 of CMW. Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net
