Hamilton and Waikato award for domestic tourism growth

The Hamilton and Waikato region has further cemented its place as a key tourism destination by winning a domestic tourism growth award at the inaugural Regional Tourism New Zealand (RTNZ) Awards.

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism was named the 2018 Best Domestic Tourism Performance winner in the tier 2 (mid-sized) regional tourism organisations category. The award recognised the importance of the domestic New Zealand tourism market and the need to nurture and grow this sector, as well as, the international visitor market.

The award was independently assessed by AA Traveller against four measures including average length of stay, overnight visitation and visitor expenditure.

Lake Wanaka Tourism took out the overall award for the highest domestic tourism growth across the country and Queenstown was named winner for the tier 1 (large) regional tourism organisation category.

Head of Tourism Partnerships for AA Travel & Tourism Neil Gestro congratulated the Hamilton & Waikato team on an excellent win.

“Hamilton & Waikato Tourism’s results are commendable and it was great to see the region performing so well,” said Mr Gestro.

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism chief executive Jason Dawson says the win confirms the region’s position as a leading visitor destination.

“At the end of August 2018, leisure and business tourism contribute $1.549 billion annually into the region. However, it’s the domestic visitors leading the charge injecting $1.184 billion into our regional economy annually,” said Mr Dawson.