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Rotorua’s Royal Lakeside Novotel was pleased to announce recently that Shortland Street was coming to stay and film at the property. Coinciding with the 10th birthday of the hotel, the 30-strong cast and crew filmed for three days at the end of May. The hotel was chosen as a filming location and accommodation venue by Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing and the show’s producer and director during recce visits prior to their arrival. Little can be told of the impending storylines for the two episodes being filmed in Rotorua, however, it can be revealed that the main characters visit the city for a medical conference at the hotel. Royal Lakeside Novotel general manager Klaus Gottschalk said the filming was a great opportunity to highlight Rotorua as a conference destination for both New Zealand and the countries the programme is aired in, such as England and Asia. “We will look forward to watching the results when they screen in August,” he said.

Tourism New Zealand and designer Xanthe White did New Zealand proud recently, winning silver at the Chelsea Garden Show in the UK. The 100% Pure New Zealand Garden included thousands of plants from New Zealand and depicted the rugged bush and beach of Auckland’s west coast. “Congratulations to Xanthe and Tourism New Zealand,” said the Minister for Tourism Damien O’Connor. “The Chelsea Flower Show is a great opportunity to bring the beauty of New Zealand to the British public. The garden has been a huge talking point at the show and no doubt will entice more visitors to come to our shores.”

Auckland-based Austin’s Food Design Events has moved to larger premises. “We’ve been constrained for quite some time at our old base because we had outgrown it, and now we can work more efficiently, especially for our bigger events,” said MD, Maggie Weatherhead. The new premises are in Porters Avenue, next to Peek Display.

Christchurch’s role in the fostering and development of IT and innovation has been enhanced with news that a $20 million IBM super computer, one of the 10 largest in the world, is to be installed at Canterbury University’s School of Engineering by 2009, at the NZ Information & Commercial Technology Innovation Centre. It will be at least 500 times more powerful than present computer capability there. Vbase marketing manager Alan Garner said that Christchurch’s past and future role in innovation and IT development made it an even more attractive destination for scientific conferences and tradeshows.

The winners of the Inaugural HotelClub Australia and New Zealand Hotel Awards 2006 were announced in Sydney recently. Chateau Tongariro was named as a finalist in the top three hotels in the New Zealand category. Hotels and resorts were shortlisted through a consumer survey held from November 2005 to January 31, 2006 by HotelClub, Getaway and ninemsn. More than 74,000 respondents from 170 countries voted. With the addition of 39 rooms last year and the only New Zealand hotel located in a World Heritage Park, Bayview Chateau Tongariro at Mount Ruapehu is one of the most iconic hotels in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s regional airline Origin Pacific Airways announced it was beginning a Tauranga – Christchurch direct air service from June 28, 2006, with a same day return schedule suited for business travellers. The New Zealand owned and operated airline is flying a Jetstream 41 between the two cities from Monday to Friday to cater to a demand from the Bay of Plenty business community. Origin Pacific managing director Robert Inglis said the airline was always looking for new opportunities to meet the demand for competitive air services throughout New Zealand. “It seemed like an obvious fit to us and with the tremendous growth of Tauranga it was only natural for a city this size to have a direct air link with the South Island,” he said. Origin Pacific’s general manager of passenger services, David Collier, said the airline was assisted in its decision to start the new service by some excellent work from the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce and Priority One. “The Chamber has undertaken several valuable surveys of the local business community that clearly established the demand for a direct service to Christchurch and Priority One backed that up by getting local businesses to commit to pre-purchasing flights on the new service.” Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jane Nees said that the business community had expressed a need for a direct service and she was delighted that Origin Pacific had been willing to listen to that demand.

Auckland Business Tourism Bureau, a division of Tourism Auckland, recently assisted in securing two large Australian business conferences to be held in Auckland. A conference of Australian frontline travel agents representing most of the 600 Travelscene American Express offices from throughout Australia will take place in September 2006, bringing 500 delegates to the city. The conference will be held at the Auckland Convention Centre at THE EDGE®, and delegates will be accommodated at various Auckland hotels. A ‘New Zealand showcase’ evening and post conference educationals will also be incorporated into the overall event, providing the opportunity for delegates to meet New Zealand product operators and help expand product knowledge. In addition, a large conference has been secured at SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre, which will take place in early 2007. The conference will include an activity day where delegates will enjoy a range of Auckland activities, including sailing, canyoning, quad biking and a trip to Waiheke Island.

The Carrington Resort has recently been graded by Qualmark and awarded a five-star hotel status. The property is one of only nine hotels in New Zealand to be awarded five stars by Qualmark.

The New Zealand chapter of the Exhibition & Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) has elected a new committee. Dona White, of North Port Events Ltd remains president of the chapter, Amelia Franich, ASB Showgrounds, is secretary, and Barry Quayle from Mystery Creek is treasurer. Other committee members are: Richard Bews – dmg world media, Eugene Fraser – Peek Display, Elsa Bradbury – Wellington Convention Centre, Chris Rubery – Displayways, Stu Freeman – ProMag Publishing, and Raana Horan from Exhibition Hire Services.

The role of international venues for conventions and their impact on economic development was highlighted at the Christchurch Innovation Festival in April. Vbase marketing manager Alan Garner said the city’s creativity, talent, innovation and entrepreneurship were all factors that enhanced Christchurch as a conference city. International interest has been created in the University of Canterbury’s Alan McDiarmid Centre for science named in honour of the Nobel Prize scientist, formerly of Christchurch and the Christchurch-based Whisper Tech, which has developed an external combustion engine that uses natural gas to heat water and generate electricity at the same time. Last year they signed a deal worth more than $300 million to provide home water heating boilers for the United Kingdom. “International relationships must be made both by businesses and by governments and international conventions in an innovative and leading IT city, such as Christchurch,” Mr Garner said.