Posts Tagged new zealand tour
New Zealand’s North Island – A Unique Holiday Experience
Travelers to New Zealand’s North Island can expect unique scenery and adventures beckoning around every corner.
The North and the South Island of New Zealand are very diverse regarding scenery and geographical makeup. The North Island is warm and with a scenery scope from sandy beaches, through rolling farmland to active volcanic peaks. It is home of about 73 percent of the nation’s population and is maybe best recognized for the unique volcanic plateau at its centre. The North Island (115000sq km) is home to Auckland, the nation’s largest city, and Rotorua, the current centre for the Maori culture.
Let’s have a look at two very famous areas of the North Island the Coromandel Peninsula and Rotorua.
The Coromandel Region of New Zealand is truly a special place, a short drive outside Auckland city. Coromandel is located east of Auckland, on the east coast of the North Island. This region is one of New Zealand’s leading coastal holiday destinations due to the wonderful white sandy beaches and sunny weather of the area. It is portrayed as rustic, relaxed, magnificent and unspoiled. On the arrival of the Europeans in New Zealand Coromandel Peninsula was covered in kauri forest, and many huge trees grew there. Coromandel is the name of a town and harbour on the western side of the Coromandel Peninsula. The town of Coromandel is lovely and old. Coromandel stands for New Zealand’s intact beauty displaying natural world as it was meant to be.
Rotorua is located near the centre of New Zealand’s North Island. It sits on the shores of Lake Rotorua and several other lakes are nearby. You will find a great variety in Rotorua attractions, activities and culture which makes this place a very famous New Zealand tourist destination. Beside the geothermal wonders, there are also the more common water activities such as fishing and boating. Tourism is a key industry in Rotorua. Therefore the tourism services are well developed. This region is the centre of Maori Culture and thermal activity for New Zealand. We recommend exploring the geothermal wonders of Rotorua. Enjoy the natural spas, geysers, hot pools and bubbling mud pools Rotorua has to offer. It has the most energetic thermal activity in the country. Afterwards it might be interesting to take in a Maori hangi (a method of cooking in an outdoor pit oven) and concert.
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New Zealand Vacation
What do you know about New Zealand? If you are anything like me, you probably think of New Zealand and Australia the way I think of the United States and Canada – New Zealand is close to Australia, similar to it in many ways, but just not quite the same. I spent five months of last year in New Zealand and have now come to regard it differently. For one thing, I finally realize why it was chosen as the ideal location of Tolkin’s Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
New Zealand lies east of Australia and is situated in the South Pacific region. It is composed of two large islands, north and south. Its climate is mild and its scenery is simply breathtaking. New Zealand is also steeped deep in the tradition of the Maori people. Its major cities include Auckland (the capital), Wellington and Dunedin. Queenstown is acclaimed as one of its best destinations, an ideal place to ski that is peppered with magnificent slopes.
It is no secret that the Lord of the Rings trilogy gave the New Zealand tourism industry a major boost, what with the amazing scenery and sense of mystery and romanticism depicted in the films. The trilogy also gave movie-goers a glimpse of New Zealand’s many beautiful destinations. Today, the local businesses that helped transport the movie makers from one location to another have their hands full doing the very same thing to an ever-growing number of tourists, for a fee of course. And although curiosity about Lord of the Rings may have spurred many to visit New Zealand, once there most tourists are eager to see the rest of this beautiful country and take side-trips to visit the more exotic locales.
New Zealand is also an ideal destination if adventure is your cup of tea, especially for the younger travelers. For instance, Rotorua is acclaimed for its “zorbing,” which amounts to sliding into a giant hamster ball and rolling yourself down a hill. There are several whitewater rivers which tourists can challenge via jet-boat rides as well as tight canyons which make your boat hurtle at breakneck speed. If you have the guts, you might want to try jumping off the highest bungee jump in the world. Other locations like Waitomo offer huge caving opportunities, ranging from board-walked tourist caves to rappelling and sliding through mud and water to explore extensive underground labyrinths. Certainly, the New Zealand tourism scene has lots of opportunities for adventure, if you are so inclined.
Tags: auckland, new zealand, new zealand tour, new zealand tourism, new zealand vacation, queenstown, tourism, travel, vacation, visit new zealand, wellingtonRelated posts
Sustainable Tourism in New Zealand
Ask any person on the street which industry earns New Zealand the most amount of money and 9 times out of 10 you are bound to hear ‘Dairy’. However a little known fact is that the dairy industry is second to the tourism industry in terms of earning foreign exchange.
In 2007, international tourists spent $8.8billion(1) on our shores. During the same time we exported $7.3billion(1) worth of dairy products. So if international tourists are so important to our economy, what does its future hold with the cost of air travel increasing and the need to reduce carbon emissions?
We are an isolated country and a long-haul destination from all of our major tourist markets baring Australia. It has always cost visitors more to get to us than other possible destinations. This limits the volume of people who are able to travel here. On top of this, add to the traveller’s decision process the impact of air travel on their carbon footprint and we have significant obstacles to overcome in our efforts to attract international visitors.
New Zealand has always had a ‘clean green’ image and the major attraction for international visitors is our array of unspoilt natural landscapes. This is the theme of Tourism New Zealand’s (TNZ) 100% Pure NZ marketing campaign. However many of the service providers that tourists use have not been living up to this ‘clean green’ image.
In order to minimise the carbon footprint international visitors create during their visit and help mitigate the environmental impact of their air travel to NZ, TNZ has identified the need for our industry to deliver a sustainable experience for our visitors. This has been outlined by TNZ and the Government in the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015 (NZTS 2015). Tourism relies more than any other sector on our countries continuing sustainability as a nation. This is because New Zealand itself is the product we are selling internationally. Sustainability involves delivering the maximum benefit – economic, social, cultural, and environmental – with as few unwanted effects as possible ensuring the future of the industry and our environment(2).
The most significant development our industry has had since the publication of the NZTS 2015 is the development of the world’s first integrated environmental performance and quality assurance system – Qualmark Green. Qualmark is TNZ’s official independent mark of quality and now every Qualmark accredited accommodation provider, visitor activity and transport provider, visitor service and venue is assessed on their environmental performance and required to meet a set of minimum standards. Those that excel receive either a bronze, silver or gold accreditation which they can promote alongside their quality rating.
Furthermore, the small South Island tourist town of Kaikoura (famous for whale watching) has been extremely proactive with regards to sustainability. In 2004 Kaikoura became the first local authority in the world to achieve Green Globe 21 Certification. Green Globe is a global benchmarking and certification process for sustainable travel and tourism. Kaikoura District Council created an environmental and social policy action plan using Green Globe’s guidelines, reduced its solid waste output through a zero waste scheme which has saved the district thousands of dollars, and introduced a carbon offset scheme to ensure that their carbon footprint is dramatically reduced. The certification has become a unique selling point for Kaikoura as a destination which has resulted in increased visitation.
Initiatives such as these show how New Zealand is leading the way with sustainable tourism. It is ensuring that those involved in the industry live the clean green image our international visitors expect. And due to the breadth of the industry throughout NZ, sustainable values are reaching all communities around the country.
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