NZ is famous for it’s wine and one the finest events on the calendar is The Marlborough wine festival. New Zealand’s longest running wine festival – held at Brancott Estate – offers the chance to sample the best from Marlborough’s award-winning wineries matched with local food. Activities include wine tutorials, cooking classes, entertainment and ‘Fashion in the Vines’.

This year the festival is taking place on the 11th Feb.

Another major event which is unique to New Zealand is the Art Deco weekend that takes place in Napier which is New Zealand’s art deco capital and one of the best-known collective examples of 1930s architecture in the world.

From the 14th Feb the city celebrates in style with classic cars, aircraft and guests in Deco clothing, adding authenticity and 20s glamour to events – many of which are free.

Overseas visitors to New Zealand should always take out travel insurance over 75 to ensure they are covered in case of loss of items or medical emergency.

The NZ Rugby World Cup lured thousands of hard-core rugby fans from UK, France, and Australia; visitor arrivals increased by 26% compared to September 2010 which is great news.

New Zealand needs to keep momentum going and TIA is encouraging the incoming government to provide the means to ensure further development of the sector. The Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) has commented on this great achievement, yet concluded this is not enough.

There will be many coming from South Africa too, Mike Jaspers, the communications manager of the organising committee, on Tuesday said that a number of former SA citizens would also make the trip.

“Our expectation is that about 5 000 South Africans will travel here based on current ticket sales,” Jaspers said “In addition we expect a number of expats to travel from countries such as Australia.”

The main destination will be Auckland as it is hosting the most games along with Wellington too. Christchurch unfortunately will be missing out due to damage that occured to the Jade Stadium during the earthquakes.

There is no better time to visit NZ than in the autumn where the summer still lingers and sunny warm days and evening are the norm.

There are many festivals in NZ at this time and here is a selection of a few we have picked out,

Bluff Oyster Food Festival
21 May 2011
A much-anticipated event for seafood lovers, the Bluff Oyster Festival marks the start of the oyster season and showcases other local delicacies and wines. The programme also includes special dinner fun.

Festival of Colour, Wanaka
12 – 17 April 2011
The Southern Lakes Festival of Colour is a biennial celebration of the arts set against the beautiful backdrop of Central Otago lakes. The festival is based in Wanaka but also includes Queenstown, Luggate, Hawea, Cromwell and Glenorchy.

Auckland Arts Festival
2 – 20 March 2011
Auckland Arts Festival is a biennial event that boasts a spectacular programme of more than 200 theatre, dance, music, and visual arts events from some of the world’s most exciting arts and entertainment companies – many of which have never before performed in Australasia.

Womad
18 – 20 March 2011
Over three-days, more than 200 artists from 20 different countries perform on six stages at the TSB Bowl and Brooklands Park in New Plymouth – one of the most beautiful outdoor venues in the world. The festival focuses on the discovery and enjoyment of music from around the globe.

NZ Music Month
1 – 31 May 2011
NZ Music Month is a 31-day celebration of homegrown Kiwi music talent. Concerts will be held across the length and breadth of the country, celebrating the unique talent of New Zealand musicians and raising awareness of emerging local artists. Music month began in 2001 with the objective of increasing the proportion of NZ songs on commercial radio.

If you are heading downunder ensure you have good travel insurance over 60 before you leave

Thing to do in Raglan

Not everyone comes to Raglan to surf and there is plenty to do aside from ripping up the surf such as bushes to walk, mountains to climb, horses to ride and a decent waterfall, Bridal Veil Falls, to oogle. You could learn how to surf, or just laze around and enjoy the colourful and picturesque town.

Places to eat and stay in Raglan

There are a whole range of places to stay in Ragland such as backpacker hostels, camp grounds, bachs, hotels and motels. There are a couple of lively pubs and lots of cool cafes too.

Rugby fans who stay afloat on cruise ships providing accommodation during the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand will find themselves in the heart of the action.

Three cruise liners that have been confirmed as floating hotels will provide beds and transport for several thousand rugby fans during the major event.

The ships will berth in Auckland, Wellington and in the South Island port of Lyttelton near Christchurch ensuring visitors are well placed to enjoy top class action on the field as well as luxury on the water.

In Auckland the cruise liners will berth in the central city, close to restaurants, shops and transport facilities. Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour is already an entertainment hub, and further development on Queen’s Wharf will increase the waterfront activity by providing a central visitor area for fans and cruise ship passengers during the event.

Domestic tourists spent $12.4 billion in the year ended March 2009, an increase of 2.6 percent from the previous year. While international tourist expenditure declined by 0.9 percent — the first fall since figures were first collected in 1999.

Ministry of Tourism research manager Bruce Bassett said the first half of 2009 was the most challenging period for international tourism globally.

“And to actually come through that with a pretty modest decline, I think is a pretty good result.”

Tourism Industry Association chief executive Tim Cossar said the impact of the global recession was softened by the large numbers of Australian visitors, New Zealand’s largest international visitor market.

Despite the slight decline in international tourism, it contributed $9.3b (16.4 percent) to New Zealand’s total exports of goods and services, second to dairy products at $10b (17.6 percent).

According to travel magazine Australia the numbers of Aussies crossing the Tasman will go up.

Overall, the tourism industry proved its resilience as total tourism expenditures rose by 1.1 percent ($226 million) to $21.7b.

Whilst the global recession has caused some countries to request temporary workers without work to go home or to severely slash the number of skills on immigration shortage lists, New Zealand has been less affected.

Andrew Annakin, head of Immigration New Zealand, said their policy towards skilled migration was “generally more moderate” than that of other countries. New Zealand was less affected than some other countries, allowing them to better control immigration to the country, minimising the “dramatic responses” to immigration that some nations have recently implemented.

Mr Annakin also said New Zealand’s 6 per cent unemployment rate was lower than in many OECD countries, where the average is 8 per cent.

He reiterated that New Zealand will always need skilled migration, and said that by allowing the “availability of unemployed New Zealanders and the reduction in employment to manage the flow of temporary work permits”, the country was able to ensure the skills base necessary for after the recession whilst managing employment levels and still allowing for skilled migration. LF

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his New Zealand counterpart John Key have this week agreed to a joint plan that aims to increase airline travel between the two countries. The trans-Tasman agreement will see the average time it takes Australians who travel to New Zealand, some one million every year, to get through custom processing reduced from twelve to eight minutes.

Under the new relaxation of border security between the countries, Australians not considered high-risk travelling to New Zealand would be able to check in electronically and scan their own passports through customs checkpoints.

Rudd spoke of both his and Key’s commitment to the “idea of a single economic market” as a way to improve both business communities. The two leaders have also discussed further unificiation of their economies, as well as the establishment of a joint military corps similar to the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) which first fought together in World War I.

Qantas spokesman David Epstein said that the changes would lead to increased tourism, providing mutual economic benefits, although ideally border controls between the two countries would be dropped completely, making travel between Australia and New Zealand like travelling between domestic airports. Such a shift could reduce trans-Tasman fares by up to thirty per cent.