NZ MAUNGA No.1 WITH GOOGLE JAN 2013
A poem about NZ views, especially from mountains, is the no.1 preferred look today via Google’s SEO placement rankings of this website. It is a website consisting of 22,800+ different posts. To read the thoughts, jet2it.
[Photo: Mt Bee. Artist: Hamish Southcott]
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 21.1.13~
BRIT’S SAY NZ TOURISM A PRICEY EXPERIENCE
NZ’s tourism industry: “Flights between London and Auckland are up to twice as expensive when booking from New Zealand compared to buying return trips out of Britain.” A new report from Britain says. At the time of writing Heathrow is snowed in, so it’s interesting timing for the UK report to drop that Kiwis pay more for flights than Brits. The Brits also accuse NZ for price gouging. (more…)
ROMANTIC TOURISM QUEENSTOWN 2013
Last night at the local fish n’ chip shop, a beautiful young Scottish mother strutted in to get dinner. The tall lassie had arrived from Scotland three years ago and married a local pharmacist.
“New Zealand is so beautiful. It’s a paradise,” she gushed in cut-off denim shorts and a golden beach tan, bouncing an adorable Kiwi baby on her hip. Baby looked ten times more contented than her happy, yet lonely Scottish mom.
“The problem is, it is just so far away from the rest of the world.”
“True that,” was the response.
Maybe why NZ stays so beautiful. Who knows? It’s lovely quiet beautiful, I s’pose.
It’s nice to meet the new neighbours in the hood. Fun people.
Photo: Russian couple Tamila Efendieva and Gleb Tumasyev chose the mountains above Queenstown to say ‘I do.’ Alpine Image Co. report that 2000 couples jet in to New Zealand each year to have their weddings close to nature. Good photo.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 20.1.13~
RE-TIMER GLASSES THAT CAN CURE JETLAG
The special re-timer glasses that emit a soft green light, reset the body’s clock reducing jetlag, while you read in flight.
Re-Timer website. Cost: $286.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 13.1.13~
NZ’S TOURISM BUDDIES – AUSTRALIA, UK, CHINA, USA, FRANCE
More Australians visted New Zealand during 2012 (833,000) than anyone else, followed by the UK* (336,000), China (231,000), USA (200,000) and France (77,000). Tourists contribute $9.6b to NZ’s GDP each year. 500,000 immigration applications are viewed each year, requiring 1,300 decisions a day.
APNZ. (more…)
LIVELY OCEANS AT PLAY – BEAUTIFUL BAY OF ISLANDS SCENARY
When the ocean is full of peaceful play, nature rises in spontaneous, creative celebration…
Photo: Bay of Islands today.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 4.1.13~
ON GOLDEN LAKES…
Summer fun can be had.
In New Zealand we have a few beautiful lakes. Similar to parts of Canada.
One is featured above. Click on pic to visit.
[Photo: Ata Whenua - Fiordland Cinema].
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zeland, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 22.12.12~
VANUATU QUAKE REPORT – DECEMBER 22.12.22
International news agencies are reporting: A 6.8 quake strikes near Vanuatu. A tsunami warning is also expected to be issued as a cautionary measure.
To visit the beautiful Islands of Vanuatu (to plan a trip), click on pic above. Vanuatu’s tourism website pitches the Islands as “the land that time forgot.” (more…)
CHINA IS NEW ZEALAND’S SECOND MOST LOVED VISITORS TO NEW ZEALAND 2013
China has become New Zealand’s most significant market of tourists after our Kiwi neighobor’s Australia. The number has risen by 38% of Chinese guest arrivals in the last year. China has now toppled the UK.
194,752 Chinese peeps touched down this year. That is three times the number of New Zealand citizen’s who left the country permanently in 2012. In the year 2011, the number was 141,289. Statistics New Zealand give these figures from their Wellington office.
190,000 odd Brith visitors swanned on down to New Zealand too in 2012 A drop of 17%. A dimishing trend of Britain since 2007.
Australian’s continue to love their green love affair with New Zealand. 1.16 million Australian rolled in to town in 2012. (more…)
CREAM PAIHIA 2013 – TOP OF NEW ZEALAND EACH DAY
New Year’s Eve last… in Paihia, New Zealand… the locals at the Pipi Patch bar turned on a good show.
We listened to Cream at midnight at the top of New Zealand.
Paihia is pretty hard to beat on New Year’s eve. I might go again. :)
For events on in NZ check out EventFinda. 
(more…)
ECONOMIC PLANNING – MARTIN SNEDDON CALLS FOR A TOURISM MAP OF THE FUTURE
Quick brainstorm:
One for Rugby: Martin Sneddon on Greg Boyed‘s Q+A show has asked for a Tourism Map of the Future for New Zealand. I think of King Solomon‘s words who once wrote: “without a vision, a people perish.” China plans 100 years ahead. The US 20-50.
Habakkuk an ancient mystik, said: “Grab a pen. Write what you see down. For the vision will come. Once you’ve written it down, the plan won’t lie.” Sneddon’s views show wisdom in calling for the plan. He also notes Australia is planned twenty years ahead.
Thinking towards planning…
Basically, planning is a science. We look at Australia’s plan – then, we see the good they are doing that we too agree with.
We create a plan that’s either: a) different, b) complimentary to Australia’s plan as a neighbor, or c) we just improve ourselves within… and the people will come who get it. (more…)
MACKENZIE COUNTRY LIGHTS UP – NEW ZEALAND’S SPECTACULAR INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY RESERVE
In Southern News, New Zealand: Spectacular Skyscape News, South Island.
“In a crowded world, it pays to aim high if you want to be noticed. And nobody has aimed higher than the backers of the reserve above the Mackenzie Country, who reached for the stars in their bid to create a national park in the sky. All their hard work paid off when the night sky above the Aoraki National Park and Mackenzie Basin was declared an International Dark Sky Reserve.”
Wow. Starry stunning.
Photo: Fraser Gunn. Read more at Otago Daily Times.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 2.12.12~
VISITORS ARE AUSTRALIAN & CHINESE – NZ TOURISM NUMBER STATS, END OF YEAR 2012
Part of the global financial crises damaging effects on the South Pacific were:
1. Tourism numbers suffered. & 2. Bankers were hoping to buy into the South Pacific Islands nations more if that happened.
How did this effect New Zealand?
China’s visitor numbers rose. UK numbers dropped. Australia (via China’s money) also remained a constant.
Business Desk reports: “The rise in Chinese tourist arrivals chimes with a report this week from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand predicting a structural shift in the composition of tourism arrivals.
“Traditional markets like the United Kingdom and United States will continue to decline in the absence of any active market intervention, but this will be off-set by strong growth from China and Australia,” the report said.
“New Zealand will face continuing challenges as a destination for traditional markets, due to the global financial crisis and emergence of low-cost European airlines. The forecasts provide encouragement for New Zealand’s tourism industry to do more to attract and cater for visitors from our Asia-Pacific neighbours.” 
CHINA’S FUTURE – A BALANCING ACT OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND FAIR ENTERPRISE
Although China’s Wen Jiabao has described China’s booming economic prospects as being “unstable, unbalanced, unco-ordinated, and unsustainable,” China managed to achieve an annual average growth rate of 10.7 per cent, which has continued to lift hundreds of millions of people from poverty – one of the greatest economic feats of history.
At the same time, the entrenchment of vested interests, ranging from the military to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and the deepening of a severe inequality between China’s urban rich and its rural poor has increased in China too.
The social implications of China’s inequality are obvious.
Sun Liping, a professor from the elite Tsinghua University, estimates that mass public demonstrations rose from 40,000 in 2002 to 180,000 in 2010. Most of these incidents are over land seizures, abuse of the hukou registration system – where internal migration is kept in legal check - labour rights, environmental degradation and high property prices.
The economic implications are summed up in the Chinese phrase “the state advances while the private sector retreats” encapsulates the past decade. Obviously in managing 1/6th of the world’s total population, China has it’s challenges ahead.
China’s economy has dipped to 7.4 per cent growth per year now. Leading Chinese thinkers hope that change will involve less reliance on fixed-asset investment to generate growth and a greater focus on social welfare, market liberalisation and domestic consumption.
~Photo: UK. Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 20.11.12~
RUGBY NEWS – TEAM LISTS ALL BLACKS ITALY TEST – EUROPEAN TOUR 2012
Wyatt William Vogels Crockett plays rugby football for the current World Champions football side.
–A Grainy Salt of The Earth Rugby Football Photo while On Tour Having Fun. Credit: ESPN.Scrum. Getty Photo – 2011.
To visit Italy: here’s a website. To visit New Zealand, here’s one too.
South Africa’s Sports 24 website provides a list of Italy & the New Zealand All Blacks team lists for the European Tour of 2012. They full teams are:
Italy:
15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero (more…)
AMPING THE FUN FACTOR IN NEW ZEALAND 2013
Who is in charge of Tourism in New Zealand?
New Zealand needs to get more FUN.
Here is why?
If you are fun. Step it up.
Smile more. Enjoy life. Make life as fun and beautiful as the scenary around us.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 12.11.12~
CHINA OVERTAKES THE UK & USA AS NEW ZEALAND’S NO.2 NATION OF TOURISTS & TE ARAWA TOURISM NEWS
China overtakes the UK & the USA as New Zealand’s No.2 Nation of Tourists:
Once the United Kingdom used to be New Zealand’s no.1 tourist market after Australians. These days, China has claimed the no.2 spot. A International Visitor Survey released by The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) reveals Chinese visitor spend is up 37% from figures a year ago. Chinese visitors spend $555 million with UK spending $545 million.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s tourism research manager, Peter Ellis, sees the figures as a trend for New Zealand to be more Chinese literate in NZ infrastructure tourism that is Chinese savvy, reflecting the new investment from Chinese citizens. “In the last three years China has overtaken Japan, the United States and now the UK tourist markets to become our second largest tourism market, as we forecast 14 months ago would happen around this time,” Ellis says.
WHERE TO GO IN NEW ZEALAND IF VISITING
If visiting New Zealand, here’s some ideas of where to go to start planning your stay and travel itinerary.
Start in Auckland City perhaps for a few days and have fun. :)
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 6.10.12~
THE HOBBIT MOVIE HAS A STAR KIWI PROMOTER IN HOLLYWOOD
NZ’s PM is in Hollywood on a Tourism promotions visit. The Hobbit movie franchise got a star promotional boost too. For the latest fun, jet here.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 5.10.12~
AOTEAROA SCENARY CINEMASCAPES – TITANIUM, I WON’T GIVE UP
A few scenes of New Zealand cinemascapes whenua.
Scenes of home.
Music: Titanium covering Jason Mraz.
[Clip: Telecom Productions Team].
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 10.9.12~
TEN THINGS TO DO IN AUCKLAND CITY
Ten Things To Do in Auckland City are:
1. Buy a house.–If in the market to buy read up.
2. Opera, ballet, theater, music, the arts: Check out Aotea Centre.
3. Always attend the Grey Lyn Festival. Grey Lyn, Auckland is a culturally infused Polynesian city where both British royalty and Hollywood’s 3rd top box office star for 2012 have all lived at stages of their lives.–Details to Grey Lyn Festival are at 17th November 2012.
4. Visit the winery, cafes, arts community of Waiheke Island. Also take a cruise to Rangitoto Island.
5. Wine and dine on Ponsonby road dubbed Auckland’s Hippest Strip. Take a virtual tour here. Don’t miss pizza, vino & martini time at the famous bar & cafe SPQR. Always watch a Ponsonby District Rugby Football Club match too. It’s Auckz history to do so.
6. Go weekend shopping in the cultural melting pot zone of Avondale Sunday Market. For the best urban Pasifika apparrell as gifts to friends and family back home, check out Otara Markets too. Good tee shirt shopping as well as Pasifika peoples culture is on display during outdoor shopping.
7. Stay harbourside at the the viaduct. Wine and dine there too. Always festive fun. Complete with upmarket restaurants of the ilk of Euro and my Maori mom’s fav Soul Bar. The viaduct even has an Irish pub waterside as well.
8. Movies: If you have a car, cross the Auckland Harbour bridge to Hoyts Wairau Park Auckland, heading North. This cinema is perhaps closest to an American movie theater experience in a large Cosmopolitan City.
9. Fitness: Take a hike up one of Auckland’s historic volcanoes. Maungawhau in Mt Eden is a good one to start on. More to do here.
10. Cityscape Views: A Helicopter Tour puts you right in the bird’s eye view. To avoid traffic, while being swept up in what Auckland City has to offer, definitely go that route.
A wild beach excursion is always Piha. Wind swept natural beauty.
Auckland City is always lotsa fun to visit. Explore. Have fun. :)
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 5.9.12~
SMASHBOX SATELLITE FASHION OFFICES & NEW ZEALAND FASHION WEEK BEING AN MPI BACKED TOURISM INDUSTRY
What Needs to Happen to New Zealand Fashion Week.
Watch clip of Joanna Hunkin‘s story where New Zealand’s best designers aren’t exhibiting at New Zealand fashion week 2012. They say that the internet has changed fashion to when the event started 12 years ago. Fashion buyers from the Northern Hemisphere and international media no longer jet to New Zealand for the event in the numbers that they used to when the event began, opting to buy more online instead.
Hunkins words can be read here.
Briefly, what I think: Karen Walker has one of the best fashion marketing strategies going on as a ‘fashion machine of NZ.’ Walker doesn’t even opt to exhibit in London anymore either, going straight to New York.
Really, the top labels no longer exhibiting at NZ fashion week should perhaps have one LA office, or New York office (or both) supported by Tourism New Zealand, NZ Wool, or MPI even, etc. All of their designs should be conglomerated to be one collection (in the early days).The history of French fashion reveals how the French government propped up the best fashion designers. They were all constructs of the French government initially.
One day though, their efforts became commercially sustainable and is why couture is now associated to Paris for example today as a major draw to France and Europe every year.
I haven’t purchased any new major fashion items in two years. Two pairs of jeans, some tee shirts and a jersey or two and a hoodie is what I seem to love living in these days. Yet, if you wanted to market NZ as a fashion capitol, Kiwis would probably have to buy more clothes, give clothes as gifts to friends overseas more and all of that type of stuff to get designers noticed more. The sustained approach of constant marketing abroad pays off in the end, if NZ fashion was to take the longer view. NZers need to be based overseas to grow NZ fashion abroad, this will translate to gains for Kiwi designers (small to medium sized business owners) with the view to growing the best ones into larger companies as global sales increase.
Featured designer, Nom D. Young Hollywood kids would love this. How do they know Nom D exists? Marketing. Selling into the US market. Of course. We need to create creative space, where leading fashion buyers and media want to return to NZ. That is a five year project, to turn that perception of NZ as a nanny state around. Creativity attracts creative types. We need to give NZ CPR in that regard to see the big rewards and major gains for the NZ economy. Right now, that’s been zapped off NZ. How to get it back is what Kiwi fashion tribes (meaning anyone who is an entrepreneur) would care to invest in seeing return to NZ. Women and men not in fashion, yet with a strong biz brain, hold real strength in unlocking that arena’s potential.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 4.9.12~
CAFE’s, OPSHOPS, ANTIQUE STORES & ENCHANTED FOREST CUBICLE TOURISM PHOTOGRAPHY ART
“Cafes and opshops and antique stores” are places to visit over summer in New Zealand, apparently. Excellent!
That and star gazing and creating enchanted forest cubicles from tourism photography of NZ landscapes too after touring, New Zealand too. :)
Art: Alenka of Sydneyshares: “So I embarked on a little diorama project after being inspired by the majestic landscape of Lake Tekapo on the south island of New Zealand. I could stay there forever. This place is famous for it’s cerulean blue lake, oceans of night stars and auroras.. ah the marvels of this planet.–YellowPaperKite blog.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 15.12.12~
December 14, 2012 | Categories: Art, artist, Bloggers, forestry, Lake Tekapo, Photography, Pop Art, Pop Cultural Commentary, Tourism | Leave A Comment »