25 May 2009
Tourism New Zealand hosted a famil for Product Managers from
Germany and Switzerland in April 2009 to showcase some of the
regions and products they may not have seen before. They
particularly wanted a focus on walking, wildlife and adventure
activities with some luxury as well.
Their first stop was New Zealand's sunniest region, Nelson, and
of course the famous and beautiful Abel Tasman National Park. The
first day was hosted by Wilson's Abel Tasman which offers a
comprehensive range of holidays including Vista Cruise, Vigour
Water Taxis, Guided Walks and Sea Kayaking with overnight trips
staying in the only Beachfront Lodges in the Park where skilled
hosts serve fine food accompanied by wines and beers from the local
region. They spent the following day with Abel Tasman Kayaks.
The group also had a day in the region's other famous National
Park; Nelson Lakes. They did a full day guided walk with Southern
Wilderness, then their last day in Nelson the group split up with
one group fly fishing with Stonefly Lodge, and the other at Happy
Valley Adventures where they did everything from riding a 4 wheel
farm bike to riding a flying fox.
The next region was the wine region of Marlborough where the
group spent the first morning on a personalised wine tour, followed
by a Greenshell Mussel Cruise in the Marlborough Sounds before
stopping for the night at the Portage Resort Hotel. The next day
the group split once more, with one walking a portion of the Queen
Charlotte Track and one taking a Dolphin Watch Eco Tour in the
Marlborough Sounds.
The group then took a flight to Wellington in the North Island
where their first stop was Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand,
before overnighting on the bird sanctuary of Kapiti Island with
Kapiti Island Alive where the group were very lucky to see Kiwi in
the wild.
They spent half a day in the wine region of the Wairarapa before
taking the train ride back to Wellington. For their last day in
Wellington they were able to choose from either the Zest Food Tour,
Flat Earth - Maori Treasures, Flat Earth - Lord of the Rings Tour,
or Seal Coast Safaris.
This is my sixth Famil trip to New Zealand and, frankly, my
experience in Nelson just thrilled me. Apart from the beautiful
landscape, I have never seen so many truly dedicated and nice
people. All our product managers were amazed and the hospitality we
experienced was world class!!!!"
Famil Trip participant