Southland
A convoy of nine helicopters from Queenstown attracted attention across northern Southland this afternoon before arriving in Riverton, where 45 visitors from Australia stopped for lunch at the Beach House.
Sightings over Lumsden and Garston prompted emails and messages asking what all the helicopters were doing and where they were heading.
I briefly considered contacting the Police Media Centre to find out more, but a check on flight radar helped identify the helicopters and their connection to Totally Tourism. It was quite a sight to follow the aircraft on the map and see where they had been travelling.
I then contacted Totally Tourism in Queenstown to learn more about the visit.
Brad Patterson, sales manager at Totally Tourism, said the trip was part of work with Great South to promote the wider region.
“The Helicopter Line has been working with our key partners from Great South to promote the greater southland region and it was great to be able to take this group from Australia of 45 people down to Riverton to have lunch at the Beach house and be able to support the local economy and community.
“Feedback from the group has been fantastic and we look forward to doing more groups in the future and welcome the support that has come through from the trip today.”
Visits like this are a great opportunity for Southland to showcase what makes the region such a special place and what it has to offer visitors from elsewhere in New Zealand and around the world.
