A national online poll amongst travel agents voting in their thousands has named Rydges Hotels & Resorts New Zealand number one in the country.

The Australasian hotel chain won ‘Best Hotel Group’ category at the TAANZ National Travel Industry Awards announced at a black tie annual event before 600 guests at Sky City Grand in the weekend.

Competition was stiff from both Accor which had won two years running and Sky City. However Rydges took out the top trophy based purely on performance.

Danelle Ayers, National Sales and Marketing Director credited the win to having a team that are extremely passionate about what they do, know how to have fun while they do it and can truly connect with people.

“I guess it’s about being real and not taking ourselves too seriously. We always talk about our ‘back to basics’ sales approach” she says. “Our aim is to make the travel agents lives as easy as possible, and we do that by being flexible, knowing our stuff, being prompt on emails, picking up the phone and getting things done with a minimum of fuss. You could say it’s old school style – yet it works.”

Regular face to face client contact every quarter is the key. Rydges sales representatives gather together “en masse” to present to travel management companies in a way that agents really relate too according to Ayers.

Forget about run of the mill powerpoint presentations, Rydges engage in a way that lifts the benchmark and captures the hearts and loyalty of the industry in the process.

The Rydges team have the agents lining up to attend their updates with ideas like hilarious interactive memory games, cheeky ‘behind the scenes’ hotel movies, quirky ‘meet the GM’ jigsaw puzzles, cute dress-up themes, and even their very own Rydges virtual reality tours complete with branded Google cardboard headsets.

Not only are they engaging and interactive, they are also informative and memorable, which is the perfect way to impart information to a seasoned target audience who have seen it all.

“They’re insightful, funny and always get a fantastic reaction. I remember when the girls came in at Easter all dressed up with bunny ears and fluffy tails” says Becky Va’a, Client Relationship Manager at BCD Travel.

From being a fairly unknown entity in the New Zealand market five years ago, award winning Rydges Hotels and Resorts New Zealand now operate six hotels and dominate the corporate, government and leisure sector.

“We’ve come a long way to put ourselves firmly on the map in New Zealand” says the National Sales and Marketing Director. “It’s been our people who’ve accomplished that.”

Issued for Rydges Hotels and Resorts by markomPR

For more information please contact:
Sarah Sparks
Director markomPR
Mobile: +64 21 318813
Phone: +64 9 575 0824
Email: [email protected]

Danelle Ayers
National Director of Sales & Marketing
Rydges Hotels & Resorts – New Zealand
Mobile: +64 21 277 1237
Phone: +64 4 498 3780
Email: [email protected]

About EVT

Event Hospitality and Entertainment (EVT) is Australia’s premier entertainment, hospitality and leisure company. EVT has proud and historic origins dating back to 1910 and currently operates within the following business segments:

• Entertainment
• Hospitality and Leisure
• Entertainment Technology
• Property and Other Investments

About Rydges Hotels

Rydges Hotels operates 37 quality city, suburban and resort style hotels in key destinations across Australia and New Zealand, and London in the United Kingdom. The group accommodates over one million guests each year across a range of market segments including corporate, conference, government, leisure, inbound and domestic groups and international travellers. Delivering exceptional service is a priority for the Rydges group with a genuine passion to accommodate guests and exceed their expectations.

Background on TAANZ NTIA 2016 Awards

TAANZ is a national organization of New Zealand retail travel agents and suppliers.

The awards spanned 22 categories across brand, location, individuals, and brokers. 13 of these categories were rigorously judged which consisted of 12 agent categories and 1 supplier category.

The TAANZ NTIA 2016 Gala Dinner took place Saturday 10th September and toasted all finalists and category winners and as importantly provided chance for the travel industry to come together to recognise, celebrate and congratulate the achievements of those who have excelled in our industry.