Grow Tourism is equipping a workforce with the skills, insights and knowledge to build New Zealand’s high value tourism future.
Grow Tourism courses teach best practice across the five core pillars of high-value tourism and hospitality businesses. Developed for industry, by industry, each bite-sized module takes 1-2 hours to complete and acts as part of a learning pathway. Learning comes to life when it’s put in to context, and real-life case, industry-leading businesses and people are at the heart of every learning journey. Choose to either complete curated learning pathways, or build your own custom journey with a minimum of five modules from the options below.
Courses
Paid
Foundations of Visitor Experience Design
with Ed Burak, Design Director
Master the foundations of guest experience design—craft unforgettable moments, boost satisfaction, and transform interactions into exceptional experiences.
Paid
The Art of Self Leadership
with Kylie Ruwhiu-Karawana, Managing Director TRC Tourism
Identify your strengths and path, determine how you want to show up and create your own opportunities.
Paid
The Power of Networking and Connection
with Lou Baddiley, International Trade Manager Rotorua NZ
The art of building genuine relationships to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
Paid
Crafting Your Personal Brand
with Michelle Caldwell, Director, Destinate NZ
Take ownership over how you’re perceived by crafting a professional narrative that’s accurate, compelling, and uniquely yours.
Paid
Operationalising Excellence
with Nigel Hobbs, Tourism Innovation Group
Create unforgettable experiences at scale—learn how to build smart, human-centric systems that deliver consistent, personalized moments without losing the magic.
Paid
Creating Meaningful Moments
with Stacey Jones, Kitchen Takeover
Focus on the moments that matter—learn how to create unforgettable guest experiences by identifying, designing, and amplifying key interactions that leave a lasting impact.
Paid
How to talk well with teams: The language of culture and growth
with Michael Croaker, Village Roadshow Themeparks
Develop strategic communication skills that empower teams to collaborate effectively, overcome challenges and reach their full potential.
Paid
Creating and embedding sustainability strategy in tourism and hospitality
with Ziptrek Ecotours
Take the lead and learn how to steer sustainability in your business with this pragmatic planning module.
Paid
Shaping a values-led tourism or hospitality business
with Kapiti Island Nature Tours
Your business values lie at the heart of your success. How can you leverage and develop them to add depth, meaning and impact in to the future?
Paid
Business planning for tourism and hospitality
with Steve Armitage
Develop strong planning skills to adapt to change and respond to opportunities that drive business transformation.
Paid
Influencing customer loyalty, feedback and referrals
with Weta Workshop, delivered in collaboration with Maverick Digital
Discover the real-world marketing tactics that encourage word of mouth, nurture loyalty and maximise referrals.
Paid
Maximising reach and engagement in tourism marketing
with Weta Workshop, delivered in collaboration with Maverick Digital
Get familiar with the tactics, platforms and strategies that drive an increase in bookings.
Paid
Understanding real sustainability
with Frontiers North Adventures
Build your knowledge of global tourism sustainability principles through the lens of a Canadian tourism operator, and uncover the connection between purpose-driven values and real impact for business and community.
Paid
From awareness to booking: Shaping customer behaviour
with Weta Workshop, delivered in collaboration with Maverick Digital
Explore how to influence key travel planning and booking behaviours with a ‘right place, right time’ approach to modern
marketing strategy.
Paid
Building positive impact locally
with Russell-Orongo Bay Holiday Park
Learn how to strengthen local and regional networks to maximise meaningful outcomes for tourism and hospitality businesses.
Paid
What is high-value tourism
with Chris Roberts
Explore the concepts that address healthy growth, deliver sustainable business outcomes and respond to the changing needs of the visitor.
Paid
Understanding the impact of tourism
with Lori Modde, Outdoors New South Wales
Develop a comprehensive understanding of tourism and hospitality and the way it impacts people, places and economies.
Paid
How to tell a great sustainability story
with Rotorua Canopy Tours
Discover how to tell a compelling, authentic sustainability story that adds value to the customer experience.
Paid
Developing meaningful and engaged culture in and around your business
with Spirits of the Red Sand
Explore concepts of cultural engagement, cultural awareness and cultural change to drive the creation of your own engaged culture development policy plan.
Paid
Foundations of being a great manager
with Jason Hill, Tourism Talent
Learn how to empower your tourism or hospitality team to achieve their full potential, working to curate a culture where everyone thrives.
Paid
Leading customer experiences that respect all people and places
with Waitangi Treaty Grounds
Learn what it means to craft and deliver culturally respectful tourism and hospitality experiences.
Freemium
Understanding and applying the Tiaki promise
with Tiaki – Care for New Zealand
Gain a deeper understanding of Tiaki in action, learn how to apply this to your role and empower others to do the same.
Paid
Building robust and mutually beneficial networks
with Gavin Oliver, EcoZip
From creating healthy competition to effective networking techniques, explore what high-value networking and collaboration looks like at all levels of the visitor economy.
Paid
Pursuing your ultimate self
with Trent Yeo, Ziptrek Ecotours
Up the ante as a tourism and hospitality professional by setting clear pathways for professional growth with the goal of building your career potential.
Freemium
Understanding the visitor economy
with Hobbiton Movie Set
Develop your knowledge of the visitor economy, understand the process of how it is sold and learn about changes in visitor behaviour.
Paid
Delivering outstanding customer experiences
with AJ Hackett Bungy
Dive in to what it looks like to deliver a phenomenal customer experience while working as a team and understanding how to apply health and safety requirements.
Paid
Building a strong commercial framework for your business
with Cardrona Distillery
Develop your tourism and hospitality business knowledge and ensure every decision is made with full understanding of the desired commercial outcomes.
Paid
The future of tourism and hospitality experiences
with NZ Nature Highlights
What will the future of tourism and hospitality look like, and how will it be commercially viable? Understand the commercial opportunities that lie behind industry trends and behaviour changes.
Paid
Team work makes the dream work
with Zorb Rotorua
Learn how to be a team player as well as nurture great team culture in a tourism or hospitality setting.