How Mixing Traditional Custom With Contemporary Style Makes A Big Impact On Tourism In NZ And Australia

Published on Dec 29, 2022

New Zealand and Australia’s ever-expanding tourism industries have brought a need for accommodation providers to create a uniquely and traditionally Kiwi or Aussie experience while also meeting the expectations of modern international travellers.

And when a city like Auckland is seeing annual tourism expenditure up 6.9% over the past year to an incredible $6.7 billion while Australia last year saw 7.2 million visitors spend more than $38 billion, it’s vital for hotels and hoteliers who want a slice of the action to find a way to blend these disparate ideas seamlessly.

One of the most effective ways to have impact on guests and travellers is though guestroom amenities – they may be understated in comparison to the size of a pool, ocean-view decks or a well-renowned in-house chef, but they are also used by everyone who visits and will last long in the memory if thought through properly.

And HealthPak has a track record of working alongside companies on both sides of the Tasman to develop guest amenities that reflect a hotel or organisation’s personality and region while remaining slick, contemporary and of high-quality design. 

SkyCity Grand Hotel in Auckland

So when SkyCity Grand Hotel wanted to create a range of guestroom amenities to reflect its modern accommodation in the heart of the city while also inspiring a flavour of traditional New Zealand in its overseas visitors, the hotel turned to HealthPak to help develop a new range.

Speaking in tourism industry magazine Accom Management Guide, hotel manager Colette Leonard said it was important to have both an exclusive range and one that used New Zealand-made hair and body care products so they had worked with HealthPak to find a New Zealand native botanical for “the cornerstone of our formulations”.

“We ended up using Puriri leaf extract as we loved the name Puriri and the Puriri moth offered the perfect visual identity for the new brand,” Collette told the magazine.

“They then helped us develop not only the items you would expect in the room: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body lotion and soap, but also some really unique products like facial cleanser, exfoliating body scrub and the divine bath bag infusions we offer in our top rooms that guests have probably never seen before in a hotel room.”

At HealthPak we pride ourselves in creating formulations that are biodegradable, sustainably sourced GE-free and plant-based – and it’s clear from the feedback that SkyCity Grand Hotel has received, that their guests also expect a level of thought about environmental impact as well as salon-quality products.

“With Puriri, we went further into customising the product with not only the botanical Puriri extract (which has been used for hundreds of years for traditional healing preparations) but we also worked with HealthPak and their perfumer to develop a truly unique perfume for the range,” Colette said.

“Our guests love the fragrance, the sensory impression and the character of the product.

“And yes, guests do love to take them home. We have started a retail range of larger bottles which we sell at the hotel because we get so many requests from guests who stayed, enjoyed the product and wanted to purchase the larger bottles. In fact, we have sent Puriri right across the world in the last six months.”

Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia

Voyages turned to HealthPak because of our reputation of managing social, environmental and ethical impacts of our products. 

Because Voyages’ locations at the heart of Australia’s Red Centre, Uluru, Home Valley in the East Kimberleys and Mossman Gorge in tropical north Queensland are both culturally and ecologically significant, it was important for them to develop guest amenities that were developed considerately while also reflecting international tourists’ expectations of high-quality service.

The hair and body care products which were developed – branded Wiru Indigenous Skincare – combines unique ingredients with significant artwork and is designed to reflect each of Voyages’ very different locations. 

Director of marketing Janneke Leffers said their unique business required a special range.

“We worked closely with HealthPak to produce a range of products that were then further customised to include unique artwork for each of our larger hotels,” Janneke said.

“The ingredients were the key, when HealthPak presented their tender, they had based the formulations for all the products around indigenous botanical ingredients that are found in the local area. All of the hair and body care liquids and soaps are 100 percent biodegradable, paraben free, sustainably sourced, GE free, and have vegetable-based formulations, all of which are hugely important to us and our guests.

“But what really makes Wiru Indigenous Skincare stand out is the local ingredients and the unique way that HealthPak used some of these. For example, the body soap contains a medium coarse ground wattle seed and tea tree leaf, which gives the soap a natural mild exfoliating property as well as an amazing aesthetic. The liquids contain a potent combination of the botanical extracts of quandong (desert peach) and wattle seed.”

And, just as with SkyCity Grand Hotel, visitors to Voyages hotels are keen to find out how they can get their hands on the unique products – a sure-fire sign that you’ve made an impact with your guest over and above the usual tourist expectations.

“As well as the phenomenal number of guests wanting to buy more product for home use when they check out, we know of a large number of guests who have actually tracked down HealthPak to try and buy it from them too,” Janneke said.

“Guests not only love the botanical ingredients linking in to the local environment, but they love the products themselves. By linking the formulations to the land and the packaging to the hotel-specific artwork, Wiru Indigenous Skincare is the perfect memento for our guests.”  

For more information on our products and how we can work with your business to develop a bespoke range of guest amenities that reflects both your company and your region, call the Health Pak team on +64 9 579 6268, email us at info@healthpak.co.nz or contact us via the website.