Bay of Connections chairman Doug Leeder said the funding announcement was a significant milestone for the region, the tourism industry and for Bay of Connections.
"This is the first time the Bay of Plenty visitor economy sector has worked together in this way."
Mr Leeder said developing a collaborative regional tourism framework was a key focus in the tourism action plan.
Bay of Connections visitor economy workstream lead Tania Bui said it was important to emphasise that the project was not about a joint marketing of the region.
"It's about a combined effort to ready the wider Bay of Plenty to capitalise on New Zealand's tourism growth. Visitor numbers are going to continue to increase, and we need to ensure that we're ready for them with the right infrastructure, policies and assets, so they can stay longer in our region."
Tourism Bay of Plenty head of marketing Kath Low said the organisation had been working with Destination Lake Taupo, Destination Rotorua and regional partners, as well as the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to understand how best to further enhance the region's collective tourism offering.
"We offer a sensational, diverse, stunning and culturally rich holiday experience," she said.
"However there are challenges which we collectively need to better understand. We have all agreed to invest funding to understand what the gaps are within our region and determine how we improve the visitor experience. Tourists have no interest or understanding of geographic boundaries and we all appreciate the opportunity we have in working collaboratively."
Andrew Wilson, the Rotorua Lakes Council's business lead with the Bay of Connections on tourism strategy, said Rotorua welcomed the opportunity to get all of the subregions into a similar place in terms of identifying gaps in critical infrastructure and required investment.
"Certainly overall a stronger Bay of Plenty proposition is going to be beneficial for all parts," he said. "It's a great opportunity to develop something that means we have some common language across the four subregions."