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Tourism New Zealand creates learning with an impact

14 Jul 2026, 2:06 PM

Explore how Tourism New Zealand built team capability to create engaging and relevant course content whilst publishing 17 new courses in 5 language editions in under a year.

Background

Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) promotes Aotearoa New Zealand as a visitor destination to key markets across the world. Its 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist Programme (NZSP) certifies international and local travel sellers to confidently create personalised itineraries for travellers.

The certification programme runs on TNZ’s Tōtara learning management system. Before 2024, TNZ couldn’t update legacy course content without vendor support, and learners could only complete courses in one sitting. Recognising the need to modernise and create efficiencies, the Trade Content and Digital Platforms teams at TNZ led a learning refresh project.

The vision

To maintain a high standard of learning, TNZ needed to ensure its program was easy to follow, had a good user experience, and the course content was modern and up to date. TNZ completed market research to ensure that revisions made to the learning material reflected the needs of its learners.

The TNZ team also attended one of Catalyst’s community workshops that helps members of the learning and development community to upskill in microlearning, supporting TNZ’s goals to modernise.

Photo credit: Miles Holden(external link)

Lake Wānaka, Otago on a clear sunny day

After working with Catalyst on previous projects, TNZ re-engaged our team in 2024 to:

  • develop a modern dashboard and course pages that could work on any device,
  • create quiz pages that enable learners to pre-test and skip what they already know
  • upskill the TNZ team to create course content themselves without needing vendor support, so TNZ could build quality bite-sized modules that learners could complete quickly
  • update the learning platform so TNZ could roll out its strategy to introduce a recertification pathway.

Upskilling the team

TNZ and Catalyst agreed to an Agile approach for the project, creating iterative changes that learners could test and give feedback on throughout the process. The collaboration began by building TNZ's in-house capabilities, building independence and confidence in the team to create and update content moving forward.

Katherine Rayn, Learning Solutions Consultant at Catalyst, ran two hands-on training sessions on how to use H5P, the built-in content authoring tool in Tōtara. This included creating a hub where staff could refer back to the training content when needed, while providing the means for future staff to be trained in-house. The training ensured TNZ could:

  • make the most out of the built-in tools in Tōtara
  • implement microlearning best practices
  • include interactive course content like quizzes
  • introduce pre-testing options before courses
  • create course content that could be accessed on any device and completed at any time.

Ruby Turner, Trade Content Specialist at TNZ, says that she has found the platform user-friendly and quite intuitive. Overall, the project has enabled the team to continue growing their own capabilities, as well as produce and update content as needed. 

Testing with travel sellers

TNZ and Catalyst prototyped the new seller dashboard and course format, testing with real travel sellers. Their feedback helped shape the course structure and reinforced TNZ’s research-backed plan to simplify the tiers to a ‘Graduate Specialist’ and an ‘Advanced Specialist’ certification.

Catalyst implemented TNZ’s design, configured the dashboards in five languages, and created a new progression structure in Tōtara. Now, learners must complete eight foundational courses to become a ‘Graduate Specialist.’ On completion, advanced-level courses are unlocked, enabling learners to work towards becoming an ‘Advanced Specialist.’

An open laptop displays the foundation courses for travel sellers in Tōtara. On the table next to it is an iced coffee and a vase of flowers.

Connecting systems

After a soft launch in India, TNZ has continuously improved the learning journey between systems so that learners receive consistent, timely information.

Catalyst migrated learners from the old tier structure to the new one. Once learners were set up with the correct certification, Tōtara was integrated with TNZ’s CRM, automating critical emails such as certification and expiry, as well as course summaries to reinforce learning. The dashboard in Tōtara also displays the current user status, so it’s easy to keep track of certifications.

We didn't have the internal capability to create SCORM courses. With Catalyst's H5P and Tōtara training, we can now create and update learning content in-house and in our own time. This results in improved resourcing, greater content accuracy, stronger brand integrity and, of course, reduced costs.

- Ruby Turner, Trade Content Specialist, TNZ

Tourism New Zealand’s success

TNZ now has content that they own, create, manage, and update themselves. If a weather emergency closes an area, for example, they can edit content in moments. In less than a year, the in-house team has created 17 new courses, something they wouldn’t have been able to do before the project.

The advanced courses for travel sellers on Tōtara are open on a laptop where a man drinks his coffee as he looks at his screen

As a result of the upgrades, the team now has:

  • Self-service course creation: branded, reusable templates mean anyone on the team can build new courses.
  • Microlearning best practices: short, focused modules boost engagement and knowledge retention.
  • Pre-testing: experienced learners demonstrate knowledge in minutes. Trusting its learners means they can skip courses and certify more quickly.
  • Interactive learning: quizzes in each course enable sellers to test knowledge as they learn.
  • Mobile access: learners have the flexibility to study whenever and wherever suits them, on any device.
  • Modern interface: UX-designed interface reflects Tourism New Zealand's brand and is simple to navigate.

The impact on travel sellers

The response from travel sellers about the new recertification pathways and the changes has been positive. Learners have shared  that “These courses are amazing and I learned a lot” and “The new courses were bite-sized and easy to complete and covered a vast amount of information with brevity.”

TNZ ensured the release would meet the needs of its users and upskill its team. The careful consideration to balance both extended the project timeline and delivered successful results.

  • Course completion rates increased by 87.8%, with more learners finishing what they started.
  • Learners save on average 17 minutes per course, and with the restructured tiers, an average saving of 2 hours 16 minutes to become a certified Specialist.
  • The TNZ team published 17 new courses in five language editions, totalling 85 new courses in less than a year.
  • 82% of users revisit the programme after their initial login, showing strong evidence of an engaged user base.
A 100% pure New Zealand Advanced Specialist certificate for Ruby Turner. It is signed and on top of an image of a jet boat down a stream
Van driving on an open road next to Lake Pukaki Canetebury. There are yellow leaves framing the van and it's a sunny day
  • The average time saved on course amendments is 20 hours per update.
  • Advanced specialist achievement rose by 107.7% with more sellers earning the top certification.
  • Course creation costs have decreased by 65.5% since TNZ has upskilled its team.
  • Courses are available in five languages, serving sellers worldwide.

Photo credit: Miles Holden(external link)

Totara award badge with the text bronze, most innovative use of Totara 2026 TNZ strives to keep improving the user experience to best support its learners. The team is constantly looking at new ways to use the technology and LMS trends to continue to provide learning content in a modern and engaging way. Catalyst is proud to have supported TNZ to achieve such excellent organic results.

In July 2026, TNZ was awarded Bronze for the 'Most Innovative Use of Totara'. 

Choose your learning pathway

Whether you want to upskill your team, shift away from legacy systems, or refresh your learning content, our Learning Solutions team at Catalyst is here to help.

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