RTO

A new isite is coming to central Christchurch at The Grand, the former post office building at Cathedral Square.

Destination Hauraki Coromandel has developed a poster to let visitors know what commercial operators are providing tours around Cathedral Cove over the summer.

DQ and LWT say the proposal is not aligned with the district’s new regenerative tourism approach.

Nelson Regional Development Agency has launched a new campaign to attract more visitors this spring, particularly families over the September and October school holidays.

Rotorua Airport and RotoruaNZ are seeing a board observer for the 2023/24 period.

Hurunui Tourism hopes to turn the region’s destination management plan into action.

Regional tourism organisation Whanganui & Partners says its region has topped the table for domestic tourism spending growth for the second month running, recording a 9.8% increase in May 2023.

Destination Queenstown and electric car maker Polestar have partnered to promote the decarbonisation of tourism at the destination.

Destination Hauraki Coromandel will receive $200,000 from the government to help boost visitor numbers over the summer as part of the region’s recovery efforts.

A focus on Australia, UK and Europe, North America and domestic North Island markets is high on the wishlist for tourism operators, according to new research by Mackenzie Tourism.

Tourism is one of two significant opportunities identified in Great South’s Beyond 2025 Southland Regional Long Term Plan.

The vast majority say they have benefited from tourism, but they want more done to minimise its negative impacts.

Mackenzie Tourism wants to hear from senior leaders at industry operators about what its priorities should be.

Destination Hauraki Coromandel is soon to launch a redesigned thecoromandel.com website for visitors to the region.

Venture Taranaki is facilitating a number of capability-building activities for the region’s established, early-stage and budding food and beverage enterprises throughout June and July. 

The regional tourism system needs to be overhauled to help address the root causes of long-standing challenges and not just symptoms, according to a new industry report.

RotoruaNZ has published its first annual report on the region’s destination management plan.

Mackenzie Tourism and Tourism Industry Aotearoa are holding a tourism sustainability workshop for businesses in Timaru this month.

ChristchurchNZ chief executive Ali Adams is confident the region’s destination management plan will be put into action despite no clear method of how it will be funded.

“I think the question around implementation of destination management plans, that’s still to be determined,” said ChristchurchNZ chief executive Ali Adams at TRENZ yesterday.

“The funding to develop the plan was provided by MBIE, and we have tried to make that funding go as far as possible by linking it with our own funding around city identity and doing that as a total package, which makes it much more effective and efficient, and so that’s been very valuable,” said Adams.

ChristchurchNZ was allocated $1.9m for two destination management plans as part of the wider $26.8m Tourism Communities: Support, Recovery and Re-Set Plan. These include one for Banks Peninsula with $400,000, and a $1.5m one for Christchurch and the broader surrounding region. Both are expected to be completed next month.

“The key here is that I genuinely believe we have brought our partners along for the journey,” said Adams.

“We can’t implement as an RTO all the things that are going to come out of a destination management plan, they’re going to cover a much broader range, whether it’s [Environment Canterbury] or the [Christchurch] City Council, or whoever else might have a role to play.”

Adams said ChristchurchNZ’s role has been to educate and bring those stakeholders with them on the DMP journey.

“Implementation of the destination management plans, for example, will form part of our long-term plan submission to council… because it’s pointless having a plan if we don’t actually implement it.

“So has it been determined – no, am I confident that it will be in place? Yes, I am actually confident we’ve done that management.”

She said ChristchurchNZ was also “unashamedly looking at attracting tourism here at scale”.
“We do need to do it in a way that absolutely is regenerative and thinks about the other capitals that we have our social capital and our physical and environmental capital – that goes without saying.

“But we do have the infrastructure in place to genuinely be making Christchurch a destination in its own right and looking to increase the length of that stay.”

Destination Great Lake Taupō is running a series of workshops to gather feedback on its destination brand – one of the first action points within its destination management plan.

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Eight southern regional tourism organisations have unveiled the Southern Way touring initiative.

Taupō’s future as a destination will depend on being able to shift from a largely economic model in favour of a regenerative one, according to its new destination management plan.

Visitation and spending have been boosted by Mighty Waikato campaigns, says the RTO.

The region enjoys a good summer with internationals returning following a difficult pandemic.

NZ’s funding of its tourism system should be re-examined and questions asked about how RTOs will be able to fund destination management.

More than 110 inbound tour operators and agents have converged on Auckland’s Crowne Plaza over the last two days for the annual Regional Tourism New Zealand inbound event.

It was not the summer many were hoping for but there is still much to aim for, writes Northland Inc’s GM of destination, Tania Burt.

Guest nights at the southern RTO have surged since Covid.

A “perfect storm” of ferry maintenance work and breakdowns have caused accommodation shortages and heartache for travellers looking to cross the Cook Strait.

Destination Hauraki Coromandel has launched a new campaign to attract visitors back to the region.

Hamilton & Waikato Tourism is launching an ambassador programme for people who want to become storytellers for the region and engage with visitors around the concepts of ‘manaakitanga’ and ‘kaitiakitanga’.

Hawke’s Bay Tourism has created a Q&A guide for trade and visitors about what they can expect from travel, bookings, accommodation, and safety in the region.

Tourism Bay of Plenty is seeking two new trustees who love the region and want to see its visitor economy thrive.

Hawke’s Bay Tourism is showcasing the best of ‘Food and Wine Country’ in a new campaign that highlights the region’s offering.

The campaign encourages visitors to take a journey that makes up a single experience across five regions.

The first 12 months of Te Tai Tokerau Northland’s destination plan have contributed to significant product development and added value to the region’s visitor appeal, says Northland Inc.

Destination Queenstown’s chief says an extraordinary winter has been followed by an ambitious goal to be carbon zero.

The RTO association chair says Kiwis still want to see growth in tourism, but it needs to be managed.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is proposing a cut of up to $27.5m for Tātaki Auckland Unlimited ahead of his 2023/24 budget proposal.

In an industry-first collaboration, six West Coast and Canterbury regional tourism organisations have promoted their region to 80 agents from 40 inbound businesses at a product showcase in Auckland.

Destination Hauraki Coromandel has a new name and a new mission as it transitions to becoming a destination management organisation as well as encouraging visitors to spend more in the region.

The new DMP also charts a path towards resolving the vital issue of sustainable funding.

Visit Ruapehu says its destination management plan has a focus on reciprocity and responsibility as a result of feedback from the community.

ChristchurchNZ picked the agencies to lead work on the city’s destination management and new place brand plans.

There’s a key component missing from the region’s tourism offer, says Hamilton & Waikato Tourism’s new CEO.

Woods wants to know what the region’s operators need to achieve success in the tourism recovery.

Destination Marlborough has received $30,000 for a one-off grant from Marlborough District Council.

Tourism Waitaki’s days as an RTO look to be numbered after Waitaki District Council adopted its new draft economic development strategy.

As well as destination marketing, Tourism Waitaki also operates the popular Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony.