International trade trained to sell ‘the Maori experience’

E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga
karangaranga maha o nga hau e wha

Tena koutou, tena koutou,
tena koutou katoa.

To the distinguished people,
nations and voices of the world,

We greet your past, your present,
and your future.

An excerpt from the
Tourism New Zealand training module

Maori tourism has taken another step into the international arena with the launch of a new training tool for overseas travel agents. ‘How to Sell Maori Experiences’ has been developed by Tourism New Zealand and is now available to travel agents through the website www.traveltrade.newzealand.com

The Maori module is the latest of a series of training mechanisms developed by Tourism New Zealand and has three aims.


Indigenous food chef and guide Charles Royal stops
to korero with an American visitor during a forest walk.

They are to increase agents’ knowledge of New Zealand as a holiday destination, to help increase sales and the profitability of each sale and to improve knowledge of the indigenous culture of this country - the Maori.

At the completion of training, agents should be able to:-

  • Put together itineraries which include elements for their clients who want a distinctive and unique Maori cultural experience
  • Find further information about the indigenous culture
  • Explain to their clients the benefits of adding a Maori cultural experience to any New Zealand holiday.

The training module is also ‘wired for sound’ and provides an extensive audio library, with the intention being to let users hear the correct pronouncation and to practice words that are unfamiliar to them.

The sound component of the site was developed with assistance from Te Taurawhiti i Te reo Maori, the Maori Language Commission.

A useful feature of the module are the Maori words highlighted in different colours. When a user clicks on one of these words, a pop-up box appears and provides a description of that word, as well as a sound bite of how it is pronounced.

Another feature is called ‘Hidden Gems’ - this section allows overseas agents to learn something of the myths and legends that surround the world of Maoridom in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton says the development of the new training module is aimed at making the international travel trade aware of the range of Maori tourism experiences available in this country.

“The quality and range of tourism experiences now available is better than ever, and we hope this module will be an accurate and timely way of bringing this to the attention of the trade,” he says.

George says that in the future he would like it to be unthinkable for an international agent to plan a New Zealand itinerary for their client without including at least one Maori tourism experience.