Over 500 hotel industry leaders have gathered at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre for the third annual AHICE Aotearoa, hosted by HM Magazine and Hotel Council Aotearoa.
Taking place over two days, Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 September, AHICE Aotearoa will delve into New Zealand’s hotel landscape in a host of informative presentations, panel discussions and Q&A sessions with key leaders.
AHICE Group President James Wilkinson said the conference will focus on building positive growth in the sector, from improving occupancy and ADR to driving food and beverage revenue.
“AHICE Aotearoa will look at how the sector can improve performance through increased visitation, continue to grow through new projects, the upgrades of others, and attract more international arrivals,” Wilkinson said.
“There are some fantastic new hotels on the way for New Zealand and thanks to new flights from Korea, the United States and more from Australia, signs are positive for more international exposure and growth.”
Since launching in the New Zealand market in 2022, the conference has continued to grow each year.
“We have a wonderful exhibition of 27 companies (our largest ever) and over 700 tickets have been sold for the event,” Wilkinson said.
“We have our largest number of Australian attendees yet, plus also delegates from England, Singapore, Fiji, Thailand and more flying to Aotearoa for AHICE.
“Our content this year is the best to date and we are already excited for our 2025 event.”
AHICE Aotearoa has drawn notable industry figures including tourism industry leaders and investors, as well as international and regional hotel brand companies, owners and developers.
Hotel Council Aotearoa Strategic Director, James Doolan, welcomed the industry’s continued support of the event as well as that shown from the City of Christchurch.
“We’re delighted with the support from Christchurch and Te Pae, which is keen to attract new hotel investment to the region,” Doolan said.
“There is no better way to do that than hosting the premier annual gathering of hoteliers.
“We are incredibly grateful for the financial support from sponsors, but also for their attendance and engagement in the conference.
“The hotel sector is a major target market for many businesses. Hotel issues have an inevitable impact on supplier businesses as well. AHICE is a key opportunity for the hotel sector and its suppliers to form even stronger relationships.”
Hotel Council Aotearoa is actively and collaboratively working to help find solutions to many of the post-Covid challenges.
“Our work with EECA around power usage surveying is a simple, but overdue, practical step that will help hotels to benchmark their own operations and make improvements,” Doolan said.
“HCA has consistently been correct around issues such as the need for thoughtful central and local government investment in event attraction and destination marketing.
“HCA has been instrumental in getting all NZ tourist accommodation industry groups – including Airbnb – to collectively ask government to start work on a national regulatory framework for short term rental accommodation (STRA).
“At AHICE Aotearoa, HCA is challenging local authorities and regional tourism organisations to back up industry groups and support this call for work on a national regulatory framework for STRA.”