Prior to COVID-19, there were approximately 125,000 international students living in New Zealand. Currently there are 40,000 students in the country, with half of them residing in Auckland.

Research shows that these students want quality tourism experiences that connect them into Kiwi culture, as well as learning new skills that can improve future employment opportunities. The world is changing quickly and the next generation of students want deeper, more meaningful experiences and connections when travelling around Aotearoa.

BeKiwi is a new platform designed to help meet those demands. BeKiwi have partnered with multiple tourism business who meet the demands and needs of students moving to Aotearoa, including those that offer the opportunity to take part in a Kiwi cooking class (to develop creative skills), meet a mountain bike operator (to build resilience and teamwork) and a visit to a Maori village (to learn about Manaaki, caring for others and build cultural understanding).

Its an exciting time for unique tourism businesses who can connect and promote their offering to the international student travel market.

BeKiwi is offering businesses a free listing on their site for the first 12 months and their developers are looking to expand the site to cover nationwide operators by June 2021, as demand returns and grows.