Waikato & King Country

A new effort to promote Waitomo tourism businesses highlights the impact that regenerative tourism can make towards Tiaki (care) and the community.

Hamilton City Council is launching a month-long festival to encourage people to get on their bikes and explore the city this October.

App-based tours are now available for visitors and residents of Kirikiriroa Hamilton keen to engage with nature and learn more about the city’s walks and heritage.

The Meatstock Festival’s food, music, and barbecue is coming to Mystery Creek Events Centre in Hamilton.

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is now home to six more kākāpō, bringing the grand total of translocated birds to 10.

Hamilton Airport, Dive Zone Whitianga, and the NZ National Fieldays Society are all up for awards at the 2023 Waikato Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

Overseas visitors to Hamilton spent $13m in the city in the June 2023 quarter, up $5.6m on the same time last year, according to the city’s council.

Hamilton and Waikato Tourism is seeking ambassadors who can share the values of manaakitanga hospitality and kaitiakitanga caring for the environment with visitors to the region.

The operator will not allow large tour groups to return to its popular glowworm caves attraction.

Passenger numbers on the Te Huia train between Hamilton and Auckland hit a high in August despite major disruptions to the service in July.

Visitors to Hamilton’s parks and urban nature walks will soon be able to use app-based technology to learn more about biodiversity.

Murray and his late wife Gloria Powell established the Hilldale Game Park in December 1969.

A sellout crowd of 24,000 people will fill FMG Stadium in Hamilton this Saturday for the Round 24 NRL Telstra Premiership match between The Warriors and Wests Tigers.

The Waikato Chamber of Commerce will host around 60 delegates from chambers around the country at the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce Conference next month.

The attraction is developing a new tool to support NZ’s popular wildlife, such as whales, and ecotourism too.

Construction of a walking track spanning the length of Te Kūiti in the King Country and connecting to the Te Araroa Trail is underway.

KiwiRail and Waikato Regional Council will mark Te Huia’s return to central Auckland with free tickets for a week.

Regeneration and conservation projects are the latest to get co-funding from the $44m Innovation Programme for Tourism Recovery.

Operators across the host cities are reporting healthy bookings, particularly around match days.

Driving school and rally experience Rally Drive NZ has new owners.

A new lodge targeting the high-end leisure and corporate retreat market will open in September this year.

Hamilton Airport has entered a new three-year sponsorship deal with the Balloons Over Waikato festival. 

The FIFA Women’s World Cup could bring more than 12,500 international travellers to and around Waikato during the tournament, according to Hamilton & Waikato Tourism.

The Waikato Chamber of Commerce has asked WorkSafe to investigate the reasons why Waka Kotahi has banned the Te Huia passenger train from entering Auckland’s metro rail network.

The Te Huia passenger train between Hamilton and Auckland has been banned from entering the city’s metro network, and will instead stop at Papakura rather than its usual termination point at The Strand in Parnell.

Hamilton Gardens has made it into the top 1% of travel experiences in the world according to Tripadvisor’s 2023 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best awards.

Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton Zoo at Te Kaaroro Nature Precinct, and Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga O Waikato are getting behind Matariki celebrations this year with a range of free events and activities.

The largest agricultural event in Southern Hemisphere attracted just over 105,000 attendees over its four days.

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

Visitors to Hamilton Gardens are now able to learn more about the secrets behind popular displays through new audio tours.

More than 100 delegates are meeting in Hamilton this week for Bat Hui 2023, an event hosted by the Department of Conservation’s Bat Recovery Group.

More than 100 operators and 185 buyers will be at Eden Park in Auckland today.

The Te Kaaroro Nature Precinct connects nature, the stars and wildlife and could rival – and complement – the iconic Hamilton Gardens.

Around 355 athletes will hit the water at Lake Karapiro near Cambridge this weekend for the 2023 NZCT Oceania & NZ Canoe Sprint Championships & Asia Pacific Cup.

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

Coping with the visitor influx will require “a regional effort”.

A shared entranceway between Hamilton Zoo and the Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park is now open to visitors.

Discover Waitomo and NIWA researchers have partnered to examine an invasion of koi carp and explore beneath the popular Waitomo Caves.

Hamilton City Council has received $14.6m in government funding for eight projects and services, including improvements to Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park and other safety measures at key visitor destinations.

Strong air travel and tourism contributed to Waikato Regional Airport Limited’s (WRAL) net surplus after tax of $17.7m for the six months to December 2022.

Waikato businesses are now able to access the $1.42m cyclone and flood recovery support funding administered by Thames Coromandel District Council and allocated by the government.

Hamilton City Council’s major events fund is offering a pool of almost $430,000 for events that can attract a significant number of visitors to Hamilton and have high profile coverage.

A Hamilton marae has shown hospitality to a group of tourists after their hostel caught fire overnight on Monday.

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’.

The Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora ki Kirikiriroa has returned to the city once again.

A confirmed measles case has been detected in New Zealand for the first time since 2019.

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Unity Pitch is putting on a show in Kirikiriroa Hamilton this weekend as part of its tour of New Zealand and Australia.

Hamilton City Council is proposing a new visitor entry precinct at Hamilton Gardens as part of its $12m development programme for the attraction.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup could generate up to $18m for the Waikato region, driven by increased spending from domestic and international visitors, according to an assessment released by Hamilton City Council.

Singer Ed Sheeran surprised guests with an impromptu performance at Matamata’s Hobbiton Movie Set.