By WAYNE THOMPSON
A softly softly approach has been taken in a new strategy to lure more tourism dollars to Auckland's west coast.
A draft West Coast Visitor Strategy presented to a Waitakere City Council committee heeds local groups' warnings that marketing of the area will compound existing capacity problems.
"The proposals are realistic in light of today's use of the area," said the recreation committee chairman, Assid Corban.
"We have to have some guidelines for handling visitors that are compatible with any conflicting uses by visitors and the people who live there.
"We want to bring economic benefit to Waitakere City but without putting in facilities that will cause problems to local residents."
Between 1.7 and 2.5 million visits are made to west coast regional parks each year.
Most are by day-trippers who spend little or no money in the area.
Waitakere City receives only 5 per cent of the $1.5 billion the visitor industry earns for Greater Auckland although its west coast beaches are recognised as tourist spots.
The report calls for the council and its business arm, Enterprise Waitakere, to play a stronger role in influencing the way in which the area is presented.
It notes one of the poster images for the Tourism Board's "Pure New Zealand" international marketing campaign is of The Piano film set at Karekare Beach.
West coast beaches are also profiled in a video shown on Air New Zealand inbound flights to Auckland.
The report favours setting the west coast and Waitakere Ranges in the context of a "Waitakere Experience" which includes wineries, orchards and arts and crafts trails.
Careful selection of images for a planned library will ensure publication of images that reflected the whole of the area rather than specific locations.
Pictures of individual beaches and of wilderness or remote locations will, in general, be avoided.
Aucklanders will be the first priority for the campaign, which will emphasise natural values to encourage respect for the area.
Visitors will be directed towards some areas rather than others through the provision of infrastructure and information.
"Nature-based" tourism will use existing facilities, such as libraries and shops, to distribute information.
But the possibility of building a visitor centre at Piha is also mentioned, along with introducing "skite sites" to which visitors would be invited.
Such areas include those that the Auckland Regional Council has identified as suitable for higher visitor numbers, such as Arataki and the Cascades.
On the other hand, people will be discouraged from visiting remote areas such as Whatipu by, say, the council leaving the road unsealed.
As a general rule, infrastructure that acts as a drawcard will be avoided and some areas will remain with basic facilities.
But there will be encouragement of "suitable" tourism activities such as surfing clinics, tours of the city's movie-making locations and activities with a heritage or Maori cultural focus.
Mr Corban said the draft strategy would return to the committee for consideration after it has been considered by the voluntary West Coast Plan Liaison Group.
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