Destination Partnership Programme Enters Third Year Of Promoting Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited's Destination Partnership Programme extends to a third year to attract more travellers and business events to the region.
The Destination Partnership Programme (DPP) was developed by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited in 2023 as an interim funding solution to continue attracting leisure travellers and business events to the region.
'The DPP funds a robust programme of consumer and trade marketing activity as well as the attraction of business events to the Auckland region,' says Annie Dundas, Director of Destination at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.
'Coming into our third year we've learned a lot, listened to our partners, kept an eye on the evolving landscape that we operate in, and made changes to make the programme more useful.'
'As an organisation our priorities this year include activating an 'always on' events programme for Auckland to draw more visitors to the region, and leveraging the transformational milestones for the city such as the opening of the New Zealand International Convention Centre and the City Rail Link,' Dundas says.
Starting 1 July 2025, the Destination Partnership Programme will offer eight partnership levels. Five levels will continue with three new partnership levels being added:
Business Collective for organisations representing a range of businesses in a specific geographic area
Gold + Campaign for Gold partners that want to add a targeted conversion campaign at a reduced rate
Campaign only for accommodation providers and tourism operators who are interested in only participating in conversion-based activity without the other programme benefits.
Registrations for year three of the Destination Partnership Programme are open now. More than 140 businesses supported the programme in year two, with strong early interest from across the visitor economy sector for year three. This includes local tourism operators, accommodation providers, business event service providers and venues. Platinum partners in year two included Accor Hotel Group, Cordis Auckland, Hospitality Services Ltd, SkyCity Group, EVT Hotels & Resorts and Auckland Airport.
'Working alongside industry partners allows us to keep Auckland front of mind for leisure travellers and business events, even in a fiercely competitive global market,' Dundas says.
Activity includes consumer marketing campaigns in domestic and Australia markets; PR agency support in the Australian market; trade and media familiarisation opportunities; networking and showcase events; sales activity and representation at key trade events including Australia, China and North America roadshows, TRENZ, AIME and MEETINGS.
Notably, 67 business events have been secured that will deliver a forecasted 240,000 visitor nights for Auckland between 2024-2029.
'We're proud of what we've achieved with the industry to showcase Tāmaki Makaurau,' says Dundas. 'However, we remain focused on finding a long-term sustainable funding solution and support Mayor Brown's call for a bed levy to help make that happen.'
All DPP funds generated go towards activity that directly benefits the region and are not used for Tātaki Auckland Unlimited overhead costs, nor to attract or invest in major events.
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