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

The hotel chain which consists of 5 hotels across New Zealand, 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 on the weekend.

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.

“It's about being real and not taking ourselves too seriously, our aim is to assist travel agents to ensure their lives are as easy as possible and we do that by being flexible, knowing our hotels, 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,” said 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.  

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.

'Rydges is committed to giving our guests the best possible experience be it through our special concept restaurants such as Portlander, The Cut and Bloody Mary's, complementary Wi-Fi, our loyalty program PGR and of course staff,' said Norman Arundel, Director of Hotels, Event Hospitality & Entertainment. 'Event is also committed to investing in the New Zealand market with Rydges Wellington Airport and QT Queenstown currently under construction.'

-ENDS-

For images head to:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s247mrkyme8akro/AAAGXdWuED3CY7EbtQsmetoRa?dl=0

For more information please contact:

Stephen Howard

Group PR Director

Event Hospitality & Entertainment

Mobile: +61 409 840 238

Email: Stephen_howard@evt.com

Danelle Ayers

National Director of Sales & Marketing

Rydges Hotels & Resorts – New Zealand

Mobile: +64 21 277 1237

Phone: +64 4 498 3780

Email: danelle_ayers@evt.com

About Event:

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.