DESTINATIONS new zealand visitor-information-25

TRAVEL TIPS

Visitor Information

Tourism New Zealand is a government agency that markets New Zealand internationally. Their North American office is in Santa Monica. They have a website (newzealand.com) that lists all you’ll want or need to know about your New Zealand holiday. There are also 30 locally funded Regional Tourism Organizations (RTOs) based throughout the country, some of these also market internationally, and they run most of the i-SITE visitor centers. Many of these have computerized booking systems in place, so rather than driving from lodge to B&B to hotel, making inquiries, the i-SITE can be a good place to let you know instantly which places are vacant. They also offer knowledgeable, independent advice about local attractions, activities, and transport. These centers are marked with blue signs and a lowercase white letter i.

Contact

Tourism New Zealand. 501 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, California, 90401. 310/395–5453; newzealand.com.

Best New Zealand Travel Sites

The NewZealand.com website includes everything you might need to know about visiting, working, studying, and living in New Zealand. Within this site you will find Tourism New Zealand’s "Holiday with us" link. This includes city and regional overviews, articles of interest, and full listings of major events, activities, attractions, and accommodations. These can be accessed either by city and region, or by "Things to Do." Note that only tourism companies that are registered with the quality assurance mark, Qualmark, are listed here. This does include most, but not all, of the people you might want to stay or play with! For detailed information on New Zealand’s wilderness areas, visit the Department of Conservation website, which covers all national parks, major walking tracks, backcountry huts, conservation land camp spots, safety tips, and so forth. Snow.co.nz provides countrywide snow reports and snow resort updates.

The Stuff news page gives a summary of up-to-date local and international news, albeit often more light, fluffy, and sensationalist than insightful, hard news. For the latest on the grape, Wine OnLine and New Zealand Wine will keep you in touch and up-to-date. NZ Gardens online cultivates information on New Zealand’s public and private gardens, by a private gardening enthusiast. At Maori.org.nz, you get terrific insight into Māori culture and protocol. The New Zealand Historic Places Trust site is well worth a look for heritage locations and buildings throughout the country. Yes, rugby is big in New Zealand; learn more, including the big game dates, on the New Zealand Rugby Union All Blacks site or, for a worldview, Planet Rugby.

Contacts

Department of Conservation. www.doc.govt.nz.

Maori.org. www.maori.org.nz.

New Zealand Historic Places Trust. www.historic.org.nz.

New Zealand Rugby Union. www.allblacks.com.

New Zealand Wine. www.nzwine.com.

NZ Gardens Online. www.gardens.co.nz.

Planet Rugby. www.planetrugby.com.

Snowco. www.snow.co.nz.

Stuff. www.stuff.co.nz.

Tourism New Zealand. www.newzealand.com.

Wine OnLine. www.wineonline.co.nz.

NZ Music Commission. nzmusic.org.nz.

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