“We’re delighted to be closing out this financial year hitting our targets of 110 bids worth $185m in value, which is the highest we’ve ever reached for,” says Tourism New Zealand Business Events Global Manager Penelope Ryan. 

“Next financial year we will retain our target of 110 bids, but our value target is now set at $253m*. We’re confident we can meet this ambitious new value target and continue to deliver lasting benefits for Aotearoa New Zealand. 

“There’s been a strong recovery in the business events sector numbers over the past year. We have a record number of international conferences booked and a very strong pipeline of bids, and we want to build upon that,” Ryan says. 

“Business events will continue to be a high-value part of our visitor mix, bringing people who spend more, travel outside peak seasons and contribute to growing New Zealand’s knowledge economy. 

New Zealand was named an “early recovery leader” in the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) annual global rankings for 2025, moving to 45th position, up from 48th in 2024, with the number of association meetings hosted in 2025 exceeding 2019 levels.  
 
New data from Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA) showed that multi-day conferences supported $925 million in economic activity in New Zealand in 2025 and generated more than 735,000 international visitor nights. 
 
“New Zealand is recognised as a safe and welcoming destination. We now have three world-class convention centres open in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch which are attracting business events from across the globe,” Ryan says. 

“We are also seeing increased interest from corporate and incentive groups out of North American, Australia and South-East Asia, including some that were originally looking at Europe.” 

* The increase in value reflects newly updated data available for quantifying the value of business events to Aotearoa New Zealand released by Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA). The new approach from BEIA allocates more up-to-date values to each delegate sector (International, Australian, Domestic) than those previously used.