Kia ora THE I hope you have had a successful start to 2024. We are hearing many reports that it's been a bumper summer for the industry so far. Some regions and operators are reporting that it's been the strongest summer for many years, with kiwis and international visitors getting out and about. Summer events and this coming Waitangi weekend are expected to further boost numbers through the rest of the season. In early January we launched activity in the US that highlighted all that Aotearoa New Zealand has to offer for our growing American visitor market. Increased airline connections, a strong US dollar and our beautiful scenery make New Zealand an appealing destination for American travellers. While summer visitation is important, Tourism New Zealand works hard to encourage visitation across the year. This helps grow the sector's overall productivity and supports tourism businesses to operate sustainably throughout the year. Tourism New Zealand is currently developing our four-year strategy that will guide us through to 2028. While the last four years has been about restarting international visitation and supporting the sector, we see the focus for the next four years on supporting the sector to be productive and sustainable. We've spent time listening to industry, our staff and getting an understanding of the new governments priorities, this will be reflected in our new four-year strategy. We look forward to sharing this with industry once it is finalised. As always - if you have any questions, feedback, or want to get in touch with myself or one of the Tourism New Zealand team, please contact us. | 
