Meeting Newz January / February 2021

Contents meeting newz is registered as a magazine and is published by Tourism Media Group Ltd, 4/1 Montrose Terrace, Mairangi Bay, PO Box 65343, Mairangi Bay, Auckland, 0754 Website: www.meetingnewz.co.nz Publisher: Tourism Media Group Ltd. email: info@meetingnewz.co.nz Advertising: Terry Holt Phone: 021 042 8232 email: terry@meetingnewz.co.nz Advertising: Paul Hailes Phone: 021 217 3628 email: paul@meetingnewz.co.nz Contributors: Debbie Armatage, JaneWarwick, Stu Freeman Design & Production: Gary Covich email: studio@meetingnewz.co.nz Printing: Ovato ISSN 1172- 5893 (Print) ISSN 2703-1942 (Online) [ NOTE F ROM THE PUBL I SHE RS Front cover: Photo by Jeff McEwan Paul, Terry and Gary Goodbye 2020, hello 2021. What will this year bring? When will we see international travellers? When will we be able to travel internationally, without the need for quarantine? With the recent announcements of the vaccine rollout plan, sometime this year we hope. In the meantime, it’s an opportunity to see more of New Zealand and plan your next business event. It can be extremely tough to come up with any words of wisdom at the start of the year, especially during these times, we have all read enough articles and columns over the years where more often than not people resort to ‘forecasting’ or ‘highlights’. It’s pretty safe to say the idea of drafting up a budget for 2021 has many pulling their hair out, and surviving 2020 was the highlight for most of the industry. Again the recent cases of community outbreaks in Northland and Auckland reinforce how critical it is to keep using the Tracer app when out and about to keep everyone safe and to allow us all to continue to trade. We can’t become complacent, the vast majority are doing a excellent job and the Northland case was a great example of that. We love sharing news with you, our Improvise, Adapt and Overcome © Tourism Media Group. All rights reserved readers, and we welcome any feedback, news, stories or ideas for future features. We hope that you enjoy reading meeting newz, as much as we enjoy publishing it. Best wishes for a prosperous 2021 and we look forward to seeing you out there! F or any enquiries regarding the upcoming features please contact Terry: terry@meetingnewz.co.nz or Paul: paul@meetingnewz.co.nz Features subject to change March April 2021 • Bay of Plenty • Rotorua • Australia • Pacific • AIME Review May June 2021 • Nelson Tasman • Marlborough • Christchurch • Taupo • Meetings Preview Upcoming Meeting Newz 2021 features July August 2021 • Auckland • Hawke’s Bay • Gisborne • Incentives • Luxury Lodges • Australia September October 2021 • Manawatu/ Palmerston North • Taranaki/New Plymouth • Whanganui • Australia • Pacific • End of year celebrations • Sustainability Note from the publishers... Features Wellington 10 Wairarapa 19 Auckland Famil 24 Technology 26 Entertainment 31 Sunshine Coast 39 Regular Features News 4 People on the Move 20 Social Scene 22 ~ 23 Industry Insights AuSAE Column 30 PCOA Review 34 St John Column 36 New Zealand Regional Bureaux 38 CINZ Column 42 Photo: Fiona Clyde [2] meeting newz [january february] 2021