agritravel.co.nz

COVID-19 update

Vicki Annison — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 02:24:18 +0000

Last update 30/7/2020:

To slow the spread of COVID-19, the New Zealand Government has put in place temporary border restrictions which prevent most travellers from entering New Zealand.
Entry is strictly controlled. All arrivals are tested for COVID-19 and a 14-day managed quarantine or isolation is mandatory.

For the latest information on travel restrictions please visit the Immigration New Zealand website.

Whilst we do not have a clear indication from the Government as to when our borders may reopen, we think it is extremely unlikely that New Zealand’s international borders will open without restrictions before the end of the 2020 year. If you have clients booked to travel to New Zealand with us we feel it is prudent to now explore options for rebooking arrangements for a future date. Please get in touch with us if you wish to cancel and rebook and current arrangements for your clients.

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Fieldays Innovation Awards 2019

Vicki Annison — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 23:50:35 +0000

Every June over 100,000 visitors attend the New Zealand National Fieldays event at Mystery Creek near Hamilton. Fieldays is the largest agricultural event in the Southern Hempishere, run with the goal of facilitating face-to-face connections and driving innovation together for the advancement of agriculture in New Zealand.

Fieldays Innovation Awards are the premier launch pad for new products and services in the primary sector, connecting agri innovators from all levels with corporate decision makers, media and investors.

This year the judging team found entrants to be of a much higher quality and had a difficult time trying to make their decisions. The breadth of talent and the number of young participants this year was truly astounding. The future of ag innovation is looking stronger than ever.

The judging panel made up of a knowledgable team of passionate innovators in the agricultural sector and include business innovation from the likes of Amazon Web services, Vodafone NZ, Callaghan innovation and Massey Street University.

The following are the 2019 Innovation Awards winners:

Fieldays Prototype Award: PICMI

PICMI removes the need for paperwork when hiring staff. The platform enables employers to personalise & manage their on-boarding process saving time and money whilst acting as an intermediary between employee and employer.

PICMI was the star of the show receiving three awards for their innovation. Inspired by problems faced personally, she fought to find a solution to the problem of finding seasonal workers, funding the innovation from their house deposit she developed her inspired idea.

Fieldays Establishment Award: Imaginus Ltd

Imaginus Ltd’s animal health innovation involves a unique prototype design for a packaging and delivery system for intramammary dry cow treatments and teat sealants. They focused on environmental sustainability and the reduction of plastic packaging (compared to traditional alternatives) and the reduction of labour and costs the key benefits.

Imaginus utilised their knowledge in a variety of industries to develop a faster, safer and more environmentally friendly solution to an important dairy task.

Fieldays Launch Nz Award: Future Post

Future Post has invented an environmentally friendly fence post made from 100% recycled plastics; their innovation boasts a stronger build with more durability than traditional fence post designs.

Judges said this product provides a way for farmers to participate in addressing what is a massive environmental problem for New Zealand. This is a positive and potential game-changing step towards dealing with New Zealand’s plastic recycling challenge.

Fieldays Innovations Partners Awards:

Young Innovator of the Year – St Paul’s Collegiate School with ‘Bobble Trough’. Judges said they were impressed with their development process, their use of external expertise, their understanding of IP and of course their solution
Vodafone Innovation Technology Award – PICMI
AWS Innovation in Data – Riverwatch
Sprout Global Growth Award – Matrex® Blockchain
James & Wells Innovation Award – PICMI
Gait International Award for Product Design and Scalability – Modusense Ltd
Callaghan Innovation Partnership and Collaboration Award – Aepea

Information supplied by NZ National Fieldays Society

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The Tiaki Promise

Vicki Annison — Tue, 28 May 2019 20:59:40 +0000

Tiaki means to care for People and Place

New Zealanders have a special connection to the land and want to help visitors travel safely and conscientiously.
The Tiaki Promise has a set of guiding principles for visitors to follow, showing them how to contribute to preserving and protecting our land.

The Tiaki Promise is a commitment to care for New Zealand, for now, and for future generations.
By following the Tiaki Promise, you make a commitment to New Zealand. To act as a guardian, protecting and preserving our home.

Nau Mai, Haere Mai Ki Aotearoa, Welcome to New Zealand.

Download and keep the Tiaki Promise – Tiaki promise PDF

Who created the Tiaki Promise?

Seven private and public sector organisations came together to create the Tiaki Promise:
Tourism New Zealand, Air New Zealand, the Department of Conservation, Tourism Industry Aotearoa, Local Government New Zealand, New Zealand Maori Tourism, and Tourism Holdings Ltd.

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Are you ready for the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority?

Vicki Annison — Tue, 28 May 2019 20:58:51 +0000

From 1 October 2019, some visitors must have an Electronic Travel Authority and pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy before travelling to New Zealand.

The NZeTA is being introduced by the Government to enable enhanced border security checks while also helping reduce the time needed for border clearance.
The International Visitor Levy (IVL) is a way for travellers to contribute directly to the tourism infrastructure they use and to help protect and enhance the natural environment they will enjoy during their stay in New Zealand.

Who needs an NZeTA?

Travellers must request an NZeTA before they travel to New Zealand if they are:

visiting or in transit from a visa waiver country (a country whose passport holders do not require a visa to travel to New Zealand)
travelling on a passport from a visa waiver country, or a transit visa waiver country, and in transit through Auckland International Airport
a cruise ship passenger, regardless of nationality, or
a permanent resident of Australia

Who does not need an NZeTA?

Travellers do not need an NZeTA to travel to New Zealand if they:

must apply for a New Zealand visa before they travel
already hold a valid New Zealand visa
are a New Zealand citizen travelling on a New Zealand passport, or, a foreign passport with an endorsement
are an Australian citizen travelling on an Australian passport

When can travellers request an NZeTA?

The online application system will be available to the public from July 2019.

Travellers, or their agents, should request an NZeTA well in advance of the trip to New Zeland. It can take up to 72 hours to approve an NZeTA. Travellers that do not hold an NZeTA when checking in for flights or cruises will not be allowed to board. Travellers may be able to request and NZeTA when they check in but if it cannot be processed in time, or is declined, they will not be allowed to board.

How to request an NZeTA and pay for IVL

From July 2019 there will be two ways to request an NZeTA and pay for IVL:

Use the Immigration NZ mobile app which can be downloaded to a mobile phone
Complete the Immigration NZ website form on immigration.govt.nz

How much does it cost?

An NZeTA costs:

NZD$9 for requests via the mobile app
NZ$12 for requests via the website form the IVL costs NZD$35 for each person travelling to New Zealand and is charged in the same transaction as the NZeTA.

Will travel agents be able to request an NZeTA on behalf of a customer?

Travel agents and other travel professionals will be able to download the NZeTA mobile app or visitor the Immigration NZ website to assist their customers with NZeTA requests and pay for NZeTA/IVL on behalf of their customers.
Travel agents must be aware that they will need to provide information about a customer’s criminal conviction history and whether they are seeking medical treatment in New Zealand as part of the NZeTA request. Travel agents must also ensure that they have the traveller’s consent to request an NZeTA on their behalf.

For more information on the NZeTA please view the New Zealand Immigration Website.

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One Billion Trees

Vicki Annison — Tue, 28 May 2019 20:58:02 +0000

The government has planned to plant a total of one Billion trees by 2028. The new programme will deliver improvements to social, environmental and economic outcomes for New Zealand.

The programme led by Te Uru Rākau (Forestry New Zealand) and funded by the Provincial Growth Fund the intention is to:

Create employment opportunities and develop workforce
Optimise land use
Mitigate Climate Change
Support Māori values and aspirations
Protect the environment
Support New Zealand’s transition into a low emission economy

Recent government budgets have allocated $120 million to use as grants to landowners – particularly farmers – to include native and exotic trees on their farm.

Through current planting rates, suggested estimates established a total of 500 million trees will be planted. Through Te Uru Rākau guidance and research they hope to partner with New Zealander’s to create benefits for everyone.

We’re focused on making it easier to plant trees by:

Lowering any plant barriers currently faced by landowners
Improving incentives to support the right trees, in the right place, for the right purpose

One billion tree fund pdf:

https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/31860-guide-to-the-one-billion-trees-programme-2018

7,741,220 km2 Canberra Australian dollar

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