By Lisa Hopkins,
Cheif Executive
Business Events Industry Aotearoa
Column published on 
Developing an industry strategic direction shouldn’t be rushed but deserves due consideration, consultation, and deliberation amongst those who will ultimately be responsible for its assimilation into the sector. In my last column, I wrote about the creation of a strategic direction for Business Events, and I am pleased to give an update on this important work.
Pīata Mai means to shine bright, and we consulted with our friends at New Zealand Māori Tourism for the right title for this work. It is also important to note that this is a strategic direction, not a strategy. It is up to each business to develop its own strategy, but we hope this strategic direction provides a framework for developing a strategy.
We look forward to sharing the final version of Pīata Mai very soon.
The development of this document represents a significant step towards a more integrated, sustainable and community focused approach to the sector. The effort, led by an Industry Steering Group and supported by the BEIA board, also places importance on comprehensive planning, consultation, and the incorporation of feedback from a broad range of stakeholders within the industry, including those in tourism and hospitality who are closely linked to the success of business events.
One of the key focus areas within Pīata Mai is ‘Telling our Story’. BEIA sees itself as one of the many guardians of great BE stories and will be dedicating a section in our soon-to-be-launched new website to this purpose. Stories shared demonstrate the depth of our sector and the impact it makes. When a medical specialist shares their knowledge of a particular specialism, they tell their story. We hear a story when we listen to music at an awards dinner. When someone shares their experience in leadership, in business, in sport, in any kind of inspirational success, it’s a story. The role of storytelling will be particularly important in the success of Pīata Mai, so start thinking about the story you want to tell someone about this sector, what you do or have done, what you have experienced and how it has impacted others.
Meeting Minister Doocey
New Zealand’s crafty weather system meant it was a briefer interaction than initially intended, but Chair Martin Snedden and I met with the Minister for Tourism, Matt Doocey in Auckland recently. On the agenda from our side was support for Tourism 2050 and the tie in with Pīata Mai, and the key principles BEIA would seek to focus on.
One subject near and dear to many within the business events community is the Medicines Act and how it treats advertising. The Minister displayed fair knowledge of the situation, with further discussion to take place soon. It is critical for the Minister to understand the situation that is proving to be a roadblock for some medical conferences to be held in New Zealand. We are hoping to have his support and guidance in clearing these barriers.
Immigration NZ
Ending on a positive note, I would like to thank the team at Immigration New Zealand and look forward to sharing this with the minister, the Hon. Erica Sandford.
Last year, Immigration NZ, BEIA, and a couple of our PCOs sat around a virtual table to see if we could find a solution to what was becoming a big problem: providing visitor visas for delegates attending a conference and coming from a non-visa-waiver country.
We saw challenges for these delegates, who, due to the time it was taking to hear back about their visa, were unable to travel, and for PCOs who felt powerless to help.
But thanks to a genuine desire from all parties to resolve the problem, we are in the early stages of a new process, which is providing the right solution.
The first thing we discovered is that not everyone understands how we work in the business events sector and how different we are from tourism. The second thing is the power of information – magic truly happens when information is shared.
Every two months, BEIA sends a list of upcoming conferences to Immigration NZ. The organisers provide this information, which gives Immigration a couple of key pieces of information: first, an idea of how many people may wish to enter the country and when for a conference, and secondly, that the conferences listed are bona fide.
The collaboration between the PCOs and Immigration NZ is streamlined, enabling organisers to support delegates and ensure the process of coming to New Zealand is
simplified. After all, we want these visitors to spend more time planning where they want to visit after the conference than worrying about their visas.
The process is under constant review, as any good process should be, but we are thrilled with the impact to date.
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