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AROUND THE MOTU
Regional Highlight Snapshot
Te Ara a Maui
Te Ara a Maui is a network of Maori
tourism operators and interests that cover the Nelson, Marlborough, Wellington,
Kapiti and Wairarapa regions.
They have just
completed a round of hui in their rohe. The hui aim was to launch their new
website and to encourage new members into Te Ara a Maui. Their Wellington hui
was held at the Te Rauparaha Arena. Te Ara a Maui were honoured to have the new
Associate Minister of Tourism, the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman, speak at that
function – his first official tourism event!
It’s a busy time for this MRTO as
they are also in the middle of some exciting plans to leverage the two Living
Landscape DVDs that tell the stories of Te Upoko o te Ika and Te Tau Ihu through
Maori eyes. The Te Upoko o te Ika film will be shown onboard Air New Zealand’s
in-flight entertainment system starting in January 2009.
Te Ara a Maui are working alongside
Positively Wellington Tourism to leverage some joint activity – this is a
great example of a collaborative project that has wide spread benefit for both
the RTO and the MRTOs member operators.
www.taamtourism.co.nz
Contact: Gail Parata
Email: gail@maoritourism.co.nz
Phone: 04 815 9047
Operator Feature
Only 15 minutes north of Wellington, the
Pataka Museum is dedicated to celebrating our heritage and
showcasing Maori, Pacific Island, New Zealand and international art and culture.
Pataka has five main galleries with
over 14 major exhibitions annually. Tempt your taste buds or enjoy a coffee
Kaizen while relaxing beside our Japanese garden. Be inspired, stimulate your
creativity or let us tempt you with a quality gift from our shop.
Address: Norrie Street, Porirua
Phone: +64 4 237 1511
Website: www.pataka.org.nz
What
is Living Landscapes?
Maori live in a storied landscape where the land is alive; every river, every
mountain, every beach in Aoteraoa New Zealand has a story handed down to us from
our ancestors. Living Landscapes provides visitors with an understanding of how
unique our people, places and stories are:
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on a National level we share
the story of "The Fish of Maui"
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on a Regional level we share
our own regional stories that are often related to the different parts of the
Fish, Waka and Anchor of Maui
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And perhaps most important of
all is:
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at the Local level our
operators share their own stories about their
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people and places
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All of this contributes to a wonderfully unique Maori Tourism experience for our
visitors
www.livinglandscapes.co.nz
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ACTIVITIES UNDERWAY
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NZMTC is developing a series of
brochures that tell the regional Living Landscape story, then link the local
operators through listings and itinerary suggestions
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These will be distributed through
i-SITEs and on any websites requesting them (make sure you let us know if you
want these)
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Maori operators and businesses -
make sure your MRTO knows that you want to be part of this and that your
membership is up to date so you can participate!
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Two 18 minute DVDs have been
produced – Te Upoko o te Ika and Te Tau Ihu. Te Upoko o te Ika is appearing on
Air New Zealand in-flight entertainment for 6 months starting in January 2009.
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The DVDs and the various elements
of these brochures (itineraries, the approved stories, operator listings,
http://www.maoritourism.co.nz/images, etc) will also be used in our development work with our tourism
partners.
This is all intended to attract
more visitors to our Maori tourism businesses, right around Aotearoa New
Zealand.
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HELPFUL TOURISM RESOURCES |
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AOTEAROA MATARIKI PROJECT
Many of you are now aware of this new initiative.
The New Zealand Maori Tourism Council supports
initiatives that raise the profile of New Zealand through our indigenous
culture, our people, their stories, celebrations, arts, and tourism activities.
We also recognize the need to put in place
initiatives that assist the regional and local development of Matariki as a high
quality, authentic, kaupapa Māori-driven series of events and celebrations.
The Aotearoa National Matariki Project will support
the development of Matariki events throughout Aotearoa. The Project will
provide support and coordination to Matariki events at two levels:
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Supporting the development, coordination and
promotion of Matariki events (via a website portal and linkages with other
organisations);
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Building the capability of Matariki events
organizers and quality of Matariki events throughout New Zealand’s regions and
communities.
Our coordinators - Lee Beazley and Vonese Walker,
work from the Wellington based offices of the New Zealand Maori Tourism Council. They
are here to assist in the further development of Matariki events, resources and
relationship building.
So, if you would like to have a korero please give
them a call or send them an email.
Vonese Walker
Ngati Tukorehe / Ngati Raukawa / Ngati Rangiwewehi
Phone: +64 4 815 9046
Mobile: +64 21 683 681
Email: vonese@maoritourism.co.nz
Lee Beazley
Nga puhi / Ngati Hine / Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki / Ngai Tamanuhiri
Phone: +64 4 815 9042
Mobile: +64 27 554 4416
Email: lee@maoritourism.co.nz
The website portal is now up and running and is
being updated with this year’s Matariki events. Please contact Lee or Vonny if
you have an event you’d like listed. www.matarikievents.co.nz
FINAL
NZMTC COMMENT
The tourism high season is upon
us. For some, forward bookings beyond February aren’t looking that flash and
we are hearing from operators who are experiencing hardship at this time. We
encourage you to look after each other and work together where you can to help
you get through this time.
A great example of this is a newly
launched product in Te Tai Tokerau called Aratapu - A Sacred Journey. It
is a unique partnership between InterCity Group and three Northland-based Maori
tourism companies, Footprints Waipoua/Crossings Hokianga, Culture North and Waka
Taia-Mai Heritage Journeys and is expected to be a hit with visitors to the
area.
" We will take visitors on a journey through our
history, giving them the opportunity to learn more about Maori mythology by
sharing with them the stories of Tangaroa (the god of the sea) and Tane Mahuta
(the god of the forest) in a unique, 40 minute long land and sea tour that is
centred on and around the Bay of Islands," says Kena Alexander.
" This partnership with InterCity Group gives us the
ability to market this new venture to international and domestic visitors and
provides further opportunities for Maori tourism development within the
region," says Kena.
Tourism New Zealand is working hard
to keep the industry in touch with what’s happening in the offshore markets.
They current predict long-haul markets could drop between 10 to 15% between
January and March, but if a predicted small rise in Australian numbers
eventuates that could hold the overall decline at closer to 5 to 10%. Follow
this link to get the most up to date information on the international markets www.tourismnewzealand.com
If you want further information on how tourism
going, both internationally AND domestically, check out the latest Visitor
Indicators Monitor. The Tourism Leading Indicators Monitor is a monthly
publication, put out by the Ministry of Tourism, that tracks trends in the New
Zealand tourism industry and provides expert commentary. www.tourismresearch.govt.nz/Data--Analysis/Key-Statistics/Tourism-Leading-Indicators-Monitor/
As operators, here are a few other things that you
can do to help bolster your business during these hard times:
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Add value rather than discounting your prices – make the
most of your cultural assets and be sure you share your culture with visitors in
the marketing material you produce and in your interpretation.
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Remember seasonality
– it’s
high season now so make the most of it, look for opportunities around events
such as Matariki to get you through the low season and give you a strong point
of difference. Keep some of what you make to see you through the harder times.
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Keep your costs down –
reduce the candy floss, but not the essentials. Those small items all add up.
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Work with other operators
in your region –
collaborative opportunities can save you money and create efficiencies in your
marketing efforts.
We wish you all the best as the year
progresses. We know there are still many opportunities out there. We encourage
you to focus on your business and find innovate ways to stay ahead of the game
during this time.
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou
Neville Forman
Chief Executive
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Nga mihi nui kia koutou