Archive for the ‘Cultural tourism’ Category

I’ve just attended the Maori Tourism Conference in Taupo. What a great vibe at this conference, with plenty of evidence of entrepreneurial activities taking place all around the country. I’ll probably put up a couple of posts on different topics, but first …

Kylie Ruwhiu-Karawana from Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) talked about international markets and the opportunities for Maori tourism. Trends in tourism include:

• low-cost airlines are making short regional breaks increasingly popular (meaning travelers are less inclined to make the long haul flight to NZ - however, this development is good for visitors from Australia)
• travelers are looking for experiences, not just destinations
• other markets are now promoting their environment to the global marketplace, using marketing techniques similar to ours – some of these destinations are closer to travelers than we are
• the internet is a great information gathering and booking tool – we have to become more web savvy to compete with other markets using this channel.

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The draft New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015 was released on 16 May 2007 and is available online. The Ministry of Tourism is seeking feedback on the strategy by Wednesday 27 June 2007 via the electronic template on their website or by email.  

The draft strategy is the result of a mid-term review of the New Zealand Strategy 2010. The 2010 strategy was developed to guide the sustainable growth of the tourism sector. While it highlighted the important role that culture and heritage plays in the appeal of New Zealand as a tourist destination - particularly for Tourism New Zealand’s target market the interactive traveller - it also indicated that the cultural sector was one area that could benefit from further development in order to maximize its potential. 

As a result, a substantial research project was undertaken to identify what cultural experiences tourists were seeking and how they could be improved. In addition, five regions – Northland, Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson and Hawkes Bay - were awarded $10,000 to develop a cultural tourism plan and a further $100,000 to implement that plan.
 
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