What about Cook’s feats?

OCEAN VOYAGES ARE A BIG PART OF OUR HISTORY AND FUTURE: The Golden Princess was parked up in the harbour anchorage again and what a sight she made on a beautiful Gisborne summer's day. One of the Horouta Waka Hoe club's senior masters teams got a close up look at her. 2016 file picture by Gray Clapham

QUESTIONS were asked at the Tourism Eastland annual meeting about where the achievements of Cook would feature in the Tuia 250 events this weekend, and also about the return on money spent to grow tourism in Tairawhiti.

Those two matters of concern were raised at this year’s meeting after it was agreed a year before that Tourism Eastland would be the tourism industry voice for the Eastland region.

“A matter that has only recently come to light is the Tuia Encounters 250 2018 programme, outlining nine events this weekend,” said re-elected Tourism Eastland board chairwoman Penny Shaw.

“We welcome the Polynesian navigators finally being celebrated in our community, but also wonder where the Cook encounters and his achievements are being acknowledged?

“His voyage is the prime reason the world will be watching us on October 2019,” she said.

“Our region is the most important for commemorating HMB Endeavour’s voyage of 1769 under the command of Lieutenant James Cook.”

“The Endeavour made landfall in three locations along the coast of the Gisborne district, and then only three other locations around the rest of New Zealand before departing for Australia.

“We need to celebrate and learn from all of our history.”

Mrs Shaw said the tourism board wanted to know what hard infrastructure existed that related to the whole story — including Cook’s achievements — in the inner harbour and river redevelopment components of the Navigations Project.

“The community needs to grab this chance so it can never go away from us.

'This is the only place in the world that can claim to be the creation or conception point of a nation'“This is the only place in the world that can claim to be the creation or conception point of a nation.”

Mrs Shaw said the whole community needed to embrace and own the full story.

“But who will assist, we ask?

“Tourism Eastland remembers years ago speaking to the Te Ha board about forward planning and the tourism importance of 2019, but we were never invited back to assist.”

Mrs Shaw said the AGM also raised concern around the Eastland Community Trust and Activate Tairawhiti spend on tourism marketing.

“Tourism Eastland achieved 11 percent growth in tourism here in its last year as the regional tourism operator from only a $300,000 marketing spend in that year.

“We understand the ECT and Activate Tairawhiti achieved a growth figure of 18 percent in the past year, with a budget of more than $1 million to spend on tourism.”

“Our Annual General Meeting asked if that was worth it?”

Tourism Eastland would continue to work on behalf of its members, encouraging further development of the tourism industry . . . “to build on the great work we achieved over 30 years as your regional tourism organisation and managing the Gisborne i-Site”.

“The focus for the future is to be the tourism industry’s collective voice, as we feel small stakeholders are still being ignored. TE will be advocating for all of you.”

Mrs Shaw said TE approved of the appointment of Adam Hughes as Activate Tairawhiti’s tourism manager reporting directly to the ECT’s chief executive.

“Finally we hope the tourism sector may be fully resourced.

“The TE board has been successfully working with Adam and his team, and we look forward to assisting him in any way possible to ensure the hard work done by TE further develops so this region receives the recognition and tourism growth it deserves.”

The full Tourism Eastland board of Penny Shaw, Christie Savage, Deane Craw, Barry Thomas and Harvey Johanson was re-elected unanimously.