Business and tourism were on the agenda for Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett who was on the second day of her campaign trail in Hawke's Bay yesterday.
After addressing a Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce breakfast in the morning, she went on to the Port of Napier where she heard about the positive impact the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship visit in January this year had on the regional economy.
She also heard about the challenges the Port had overcome after the Kaikoura earthquake that resulted in a 91 per cent increase in imports, a 13 per cent increase in exports, and an additional 200,000 tonnes of logs, equating to six years of growth in six months.
Ms Bennett then put on her Tourism Minister hat and addressed the Hawke's Bay Tourism Industry Conference in Napier where she revealed she had been involved in the industry herself as a teenager teaching people fly fishing on Lake Taupo.
"I then worked on harbour and other charter boats and fishing cruises - I loved talking to people about the area and seeing them catch a trout and then fillet and cook it on the boat, although that doesn't happen these days."
The importance of giving people an experience when they visited was a theme of the conference and she said this applied to everyone from a person serving coffee to cultural experiences and wine trails.
"Whatever experience we offer it's about getting a buzz out of it and passing that on to every person we meet - it comes down to the people."
Earlier in the year, she said she had been concerned about the negative talk about growing visitor numbers and the ability of the country's infrastructure to deal with the influx.
"I feel like we have turned a corner in the last month or so though - there had been talking about capping tourist numbers but I'm saying we are nowhere near having that conversation."
The benefits of tourism were significant and ongoing, she added.
"One in 10 New Zealanders are employed in tourism - it's our biggest export and will continue to be, and it can create jobs and exciting, innovative business opportunities."
She congratulated Hawke's Bay's tourism industry for attracting more and higher value visitors to the region, in the shoulder season as well as in the peak season.
The pressure on accommodation was another issue on the government's radar, and in response to the latest analysis on the shortage, she announced another 4423 rooms were in the pipeline.
The cruise industry was also a focus, with ongoing efforts to attract ships to these shores.
Quizzed about New Zealand First's proposal to return GST earned from tourism to the region it was generated in, she said it was not viable.
"That would be fine except that's the money we spend on education, health and policing - we would take $1.2 billion out of the government books that we have not got sitting there wondering what to do with.
"As much as it sounds good it's not realistic."