Presidents from Brand USA, the US Travel Association and Choose Chicago, joined the Mayor of Chicago and a Board executive of the Chicago Cubs to welcome some 500 media delegates from around the globe to this year’s IPW at an event at Wrigley Field in the city’s north on Sunday morning.

Chicago’s tourism authority, Choose Chicago, was in Australia this week to promote the 2020 Year of Chicago Music – a year-long event that will celebrate the US city’s deep-rooted music history.

Air New Zealand commenced services on its newest international route between Auckland and Chicago last Friday afternoon. Flight NZ26 departed at 5:01pm local time in Auckland and landed in Chicago at 12:11pm local time in Chicago. With a flight time of approximately 15 hours northbound (and just over 16 hours southbound), the flight is Air New Zealand’s longest, taking over from Auckland-Houston which has a flight time of 13.5 hours.