hospitality

 In 2011, New Zealand will host a significant international event in the Rugby World Cup. Furthermore, New Zealand and other nations are facing significant challenges from a tourism and hospitality management perspective. Research has an important role to play in meeting those challenges. The New Zealand Tourism and Hospitality Research Conference will take place on the 24th to the 26th of November 2010 at AUT University's campus in downtown Auckland.

Of 77 destinations surveyed by Hotels.com, only five had recorded increases in average room rates in 2009, compared with the previous year. Auckland, the only New Zealand city looked at, sat in 75th place. The average room rate in Auckland of $130 was down from $172 in 2008, a 24 per cent drop. NZTRI professor Simon Milne interviewed by the Dominion Post said the industry was globally driven and prices were difficult to raise without solid delivery of service and quality product. "The only way forward in the way of rates is to look at the quality being delivered to the consumer. And that's where New Zealand does lag behind the world."