West Coast

Development West Coast, Monteiths and the West Coast Pie Company are teaming up on a campaign to promote the personality of the region with a combination of a pie and a brew.

State Highway 6 across the West Coast and the Haast Pass highway is opening fully to traffic this weekend, in time for the Haast Whitebait Festival.

Wētā Workshop and Poutini Ngāi Tahu are bringing stories of the historic Pounamu Pathway to life, with the first experience centre expected to open in December.

US visitor spend in particular has surged, jumping by 146% in August compared to the same month in 2019.

State Highway 6 connecting Central Otago and the West Coast has reopened to traffic, with heavy vehicles including buses allowed today, although travellers will need to join an escorted convoy.

The Hokitika Gorge on the West Coast will receive a new suspension bridge by the summer of 2024-25, thanks to a successful funding application for $300,000 from the Tourism Infrastructure Fund by Westland District Council.

Eighteen roading projects across the West Coast will receive more than $22m in government investment from the $419m Transport Resilience Fund.

The government is providing a $2m grant for a new two-level commercial and public facility in Greymouth.

A collapsed section of a historic stone retaining wall on the West Coast has been reassembled by the Department of Conservation in partnership with geotech experts.

The West Coast may be recovering fast from the pandemic but not all parts of its tourism economy have rebounded, according to Entrada Group.

More than 200 industry professionals have converged on Shantytown near Greymouth for the West Coast Tourism Summit.

Bed nights on the country’s newest Great Walk have far exceeded expectations, according to the Department of Conservation.

Visitor spend in the West Coast’s Westland District increased by 96% over the year to the June 2023 quarter – the strongest growth of any region, according to Development West Coast.

Fox Glacier Te Weheka Hotel on the West Coast is for sale.

KiwiRail’s TranzAlpine scenic train is putting on a special journey to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a crucial tunnel link between the West Coast and the South Island.

Opening day bookings for the Heaphy Track topped 7,500 bednights – almost three times the total for last year, says the Department of Conservation.

Air New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand and KiwiRail will be among those on stage at the West Coast Tourism Summit in August.

Hokitika’s Junk2Funk wearable arts event is going national, with registration open to people all over the country and a month-long exhibition at the Hokitika Heritage Park.

The 2023 Christchurch, Canterbury and West Coast Destination Showcase will be held in Auckland this year.

Development West Coast has pushed into winter with a new light-hearted campaign it hopes will continue the region’s strong recovery from the pandemic.

KiwiRail’s Great Journeys New Zealand has added new rail-based tourism packages to its TranzAlpine experience to encourage visitors to explore the West Coast.

Development West Coast has reopened its Regional Events Fund for application.

The region’s tourism has bounced back from a difficult pandemic, buoyed by the return of foreign tourists.

Scenic Hotel has opened its Punakaiki accommodation, formerly called the Ocean View Retreat.

Visitors to the West Coast are encouraged to be on the lookout for colourful fungi and mushrooms during the autumn months.

Tourism and hospitality staff shortages appear to be easing on the West Coast, according to Te Tai o Poutini West Coast Regional Skills Leadership Group.

The warming climate and changing weather patterns pose “a great risk” to the viability of ski fields and glacier tourism.

Hokitika Scenic Tours and West Coast Treetop Walkway and Zipline are partner on a regenerative programme that encourages people to purchase native plant seedlings as part of a fundraising effort for predator traps.

The West Coast is gaining appeal as a destination for domestic visitors to stay longer and include it as part of their travels around the country, according to new research from Development West Coast.

The annual Ōkārito GorseBusters event is returning again in 2023 with a strong contingent of local and international visitors taking part in the cleanup.

A sold-out flight from Wellington to Hokitika will take to the skies for the 34th Annual Wildfoods Festival.

A kayaker has died near Jackson Bay and Ohaaku in Haast.

West Coast visitor spend in January 2023 exceeded pre-Covid levels, reaching just over $27.5m across the region, up 10.7% compare to the same month in 2020.

A new cultural and heritage attraction near Fox Glacier and the Wekeka township is now open to visitors.

Entrada Travel Group is reinstating InterCity services on the West Coast from 11 December.

Connector trails between Westport’s Buller Bridge and Victoria Square are due to be completed by the end of the month.

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.

Visitors have been spending more and staying longer since NZ’s borders fully reopened.

The event wants to encourage the sector to challenge the way the region promotes itself.

Work on the first of the West Coast attraction’s four hubs is now underway.

The event aims to bring the region’s tourism whanau together to rethink, reinvigorate and challenge the state of the West Coast’s tourism offering.

West Coast and Canterbury regional tourism organisations are joining forces to relaunch tourism awareness with inbounders in the North Island.

Tourism spending on the West Coast fell 0.7% in the September 2022 year and guest nights also dropped 8.9%.

Manawatū and the West Coast are taking a tongue-in-cheek approach to attracting visitors to their regions over the summer, with the launch of two new ad campaigns.

Global media attention has resulted in more than 1,300 applications for a role as the Department of Conservation’s new biodiversity supervisor in Haast.

The experience could generate $161m in West Coast visitor spend over its initial 25 years.

Development West Coast will hold a tourism hui later this month to explore the theme of ‘customer service as a regional narrative’.

A West Coast recruitment campaign is seeking people Cut out for the Coast to fill jobs in the region.

Construction of the Department of Conservation’s new Experience Centre at the $26m Dolomite Point Redevelopment Project at Punakaiki is providing a boost for local accommodation and hospitality providers.

The chick is one of around 550 Haast tokoeka, the rarest type of kiwi.