Early signs of recovery are being seen for the New Zealand tourism industry, with a growth in September arrivals figures.
Statistics New Zealand figures released today showed that total arrivals for September increased 9.3 per cent on the same month last year; an additional 14,700 international visitors.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said the figures signalled a recovery in arrivals after the impact of the economic downturn and Influenza A (H1N1), which hit arrivals from Asia particularly hard earlier in the year.
"Today’s figures show our top five markets are all showing significant improvement on last month, which is great news for the industry heading into the crucial summer season," Mr Hickton said.
"The US and China are recovering, Japan and the UK appear to have stabilised and Australia is still showing strong growth with holiday arrivals up 25 per cent in September; so Australia continues to be the foundation for our recovery," Mr Hickton added.
Tourism New Zealand’s ‘Which New Zealand Are You This Time’ campaign was launched in Australia in August and will continue to run till November. Campaigns are also running in the UK and Europe ahead of the peak booking season, and in China. More competitive airfares and an improvement in confidence are helping stimulate US outbound travel.
Queenstown's five-star Millbrook Resort is inviting keen golfers to 'give it their best shot' to win $100,000 cash this Labour Weekend.
The competition is part of celebrations for the launch of the new Millbrook Driving Range, where Millbrook members and visiting golfers can test their skills at the range and the resort’s ‘challenging’ 13th hole to walk away with a cool $100,000 cash in hand.
The competition will start on the afternoon of Saturday October 24 with a closest to the pin competition at the range. The new driving range is housed in a restored original high country woolshed near the entrance to the resort and is a unique place to learn, practice and improve in a stunning environment.
The range features a coaching clinic classroom for a new golf academy that features technological teaching equipment including a Vector Launch Monitor, SAM Putt Lab, video analysis equipment, automated ball dispenser and infrared heaters. The equipment is the same as that used by many top golf equipment manufacturers and PGA TOUR professionals.
Immediately following the public qualifying drives, at 4pm on Saturday the top 50 qualifiers will compete for the big cash prize. Anyone who scores a hole-in-one at the par-3 13th hole will win the cash. The money will go into a prize pool in the unlikely event of there being more than one winner.
The challenging, 176m 13th is one of Millbrook’s signature holes, with panoramic views towards the Remarkables and Gibbston Valley. Driving from an elevated tee with Coronet Peak as the backdrop, players must avoid three strategically placed bunkers and a large ‘inviting’ pond to reach an undulating green.
The New Zealand Women’s Golf Open has received a major boost with the announcement that the 2010 event will be played near Christchurch at a new course with a new naming sponsor.
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The Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open will be staged at the new Pegasus Golf Course near Christchurch, with naming sponsorship from the company developing this new coastal town.
After a successful inaugural Open this year, the new partnership between Pegasus and Christchurch City Council will result in the Open being elevated to full co-sanctioned status between the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG).
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The Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open, which will carry a prize purse of approx NZ$415,000, will be held on 25-28 February. It will form part of a three-tournament swing for the LET including the Australian Women’s Open and the ANZ Ladies Masters in Queensland.
The championship course, due to open in December, forms part of the new town on Pegasus Bay, 25 km north of Christchurch, which will house up to 7000 residents.
Julian Robertson's Second Annual Kiwi Challenge will be held 11-12 November this year at Cape Kidnappers. The competition will be the best of 36 holes in a stroke play event.
The players are Hunter Mahan, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas and Sean O'Hair. These guys are considered the brightest young stars in the sport with an average age of 26 years.
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The group will be playing for a US$2 million purse, with US$1 million offered to the winner. Mahan defeated Kim on the second playoff hole in 2008.
Five-year-old Cape Kidnappers is the masterpiece of architect Tom Doak. It has climbed to 36th in the world rankings released recently by Golf Magazine and it is acclaimed as the fourth best course to open in the last 50 years.
Play will begin each day at 9 a.m. local time. The event will be shown in delay broadcast by NBC on Nov. 14-15. Combined, the four players already have eight PGA Tour wins, more than 80 top-10 finishes and more than $40 million in career winnings.
Daily tickets are available at online at www.ticketdirect.co.nz at $50 (NZD) each for this 36-hole two-day PGA Tour sanctioned event. Children age 16 and under will be admitted free with a paying adult. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit charities in the local Hawkes Bay region.