The tournament has been given added importance with new regimes in charge of both the men's and women's national teams, and both will be looking hard at the players on display.
Although he does not officially take over until the middle of the year, new men's coach Clarke Laidlaw is flying from the United Kingdom for the tournament while new women's coach Allan Bunting will also be watching.
After the Olympics last year, a new cycle has begun for players to look at getting into the national sevens set-up.
Both Otago men's and women's teams qualified for the national tournament after finishing second in the regional tournament in Timaru last month.
The reward for that effort is a couple of tough pools.
The men's side have been drawn against Auckland, Wellington and Horowhenua-Kapiti.
It will start its campaign against Auckland, followed by a tough match against Wellington. It will need to win one of these games to be in contention for the top section.
The women's section has grown to 12 teams, split into three pools of four.
Otago has been drawn in the same pool of Manawatu, Waikato and North Harbour.
Otago will take on Waikato first, followed by defending champion Manawatu and finishing with North Harbour.
New Zealand teams for the World Rugby sevens series will be named straight after the tournament and players will be keen to play in the Wellington tournament a couple of weeks after the games in Rotorua.
All New Zealand representatives are expected to play in the tournament in Rotorua.
In previous years, many national players have not fronted for the tournament but are expected to line-up for their provincial sides next month.
The Otago men's side has made the top eight for the past few years but had a blip last year as a new-look team failed to win a game.
The Otago women's side has not progressed into the cup stage during its time at the tournament.
The tournament will be played on January 14-15.
