A district council committee has appealed to the Prime Minister for more police in the district to protect tourists visiting the region.
The Rotorua District Council's tourism committee sent a letter to Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism John Key dated July 19 asking him how police were allocated across the country and how Rotorua could ensure there were enough police to meet the needs of one of the country's top tourist destinations.
In his letter to Mr Key, tourism committee chairman Tony Marks said Rotorua had between 8500 and 10,000 people visiting the city on a daily basis and the city's reputation was paramount to Rotorua's international perception.
"I understand from a recent presentation by the police ... that the allocation of resources is determined by the permanent resident population. While I am sure this is an appropriate metric for cities and towns with few tourists, I am sure you will agree that for a tourist city like Rotorua, the police presence and visibility should be calculated on absolute numbers.
"This is especially important here if we note the relatively higher numbers of people in lower social economic classes and our research revealing that among our domestic market, there is a perception that Rotorua is less safe then other cities."
Mr Marks went on to say that Rotorua's visitors could not afford to be compromised by inadequate police numbers or poor response times and the committee was concerned the present budget restrictions could "result in sub-optimal results for us as a community and for the country as a whole".
Mr Marks told the committee he had not yet had a reply but was looking forward to the response.
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said he had accepted an invitation by the committee to discuss the issue at an up-coming meeting.
He said Rotorua was unfairly portrayed as a less-than-safe destination and police resources were allocated taking tourism and tourist numbers into account.
Mr McClay said Rotorua's police did an excellent job, saying reported crime dropped by 5 per cent in the past year.
"As a community we all need to look at how we can help to improve our reputation," he said.
A central city businessman and a member of the district council, Mark Gould, said he would like to see more police in Rotorua.
"Rotorua has a large tourist population and we need to make certain that tourists feel safe in the city."
Mr Gould said one of the reasons tourist numbers were dropping was the perception Rotorua was not safe to visit.
Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Roger Gordon said he applauded the committee for making the inquiry and was very interested in hearing the response.