Tourism Tech Expo 2019: Stage set for bigger 2020

26th August 2019 By Staff Reporter | news@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker

James Burnes at Tourism Tech Expo 2019 on Friday. Image: TT

The inaugural Tourism Tech Expo at Queenstown attracted around 100 delegates with seven start-ups pitching and presenting to investors and operators.

The event at the Queenstown Memorial Centre on Friday is hoping to expand into a three-day expo next year to be held from Thursday to Saturday, 5-7 November 2020.

James Burnes, chief executive of Startup Queenstown Lakes Trust, said he was pleased with how the event had enabled start-ups, investors and operators to connect

“The goal here is not just talking about what products or services you can buy but how do you build your business around leveraging these tools? I think longterm Tourism Tech Expo is about that message: how do you connect your business with the technology to make more money, to be more profitable, to build a better customer experience and to be more sustainable.”

Funding for next year’s event would again come from Startup Queenstown and, hopefully, strategic partners to help boost the number of delegates from 100 to 500 at the event, which would be held at the Queenstown Events Centre.

“We cannot, as an organisation, do this alone – we don’t have the funding resources or the staffing resources,” said Burnes.

“Several good people have raised their hands and said they want to see this get to the next level and hopefully we’ll be able to talk about that sooner rather than later.”

Tourism Ticker is an official media partner at Tourism Tech Expo 2019, which was held at the Queenstown Memorial Centre last Friday. More information on the event can be found at www.tourismtechexpo.com.