EDITORIAL - Correct me if I'm wrong . . .

NATALIE GAULD
HAWKE'S Bay's wine industry has had a magnificent week. No, make that a stupendous week.
First, one of New Zealand's most influential wine writers, Michael Cooper, named Mission Estate's Hawke's Bay Reserve Syrah 2007 the best red and the best buy in his Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines 2009.
Next, Cuisine magazine, a supremely successful niche magazine, described Hawke's Bay as the "country's leading light in food and wine tourism". That was in its 2009 edition of Cuisine Wine Country, a guide for those venturing to New Zealand's 13 wine regions.
And to cap it off Hawke's Bay's vineyards scooped 26 gold medals at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.
It got me thinking, not so much about wine, but about Tourism New Zealand's efforts to promote this country and, in particular, Hawke's Bay.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there appears to be a fixation on the well-beaten path: Auckland-Rotorua-Taupo-Wellington-Christchurch-Queenstown.
The Chinese Travel Channel which visited earlier this year said as much. A friend, born and raised in the Bay, and now working in Washington, was also of that opinion.
It is easy to blame, however, rather than to accept some blame. So the question is: are we as a region doing enough to promote ourselves?
We have the wineries and food but is our catch of international tourists with fat wallets what it should be? A well-heeled English tourist I spoke to on Lake Taupo recently bemoaned the lack of five-star facilities he'd found in New Zealand, places where he and his wife could while away the hours eating and drinking.
As a country, we weren't taking enough cash out of visitors' wallets, he said. He never mentioned Hawke's Bay.
Wine and food is a great start. Art Deco has a strong presence. The summer events, like the ever-increasing concert circuit are all good one-offs. But there is a need to hold tourists longer.
In my opinion, more infrastructure is required for Hawke's Bay to be truly successful.
Some will argue that trying to up the ante for tourist dollars will affect the local populus. Not necessarily.
Is it not pathetic to have a lame duck beach on Marine Parade, supported by quality accommodation? Westshore is also drastically in need of grooming. Surely there are engineering solutions to Napier's inner-city beach problem, solutions which would ultimately pay a dividend for visitor and local.
The pa recently rebuilt at Waimarama is an authentic facet added to our Maori tourism portfolio and offers a glimmer of hope that the experience so ruthlessly exploited in Rotorua could be repeated here. Cruise ship passengers are lined up throughout the summer to visit the beachside settlement. That is a great initiative, the like of which we need more of.
High-end tourism is the way to go, because those travellers are more likely to defy recession, and leave less imprint on the locals.
The success of our wineries, not to mention a change of government this week, make now a good time to agitate for a better place in the tourism sun. Our local bodies should be shouting from the rooftops - "Come to the Bay, the land of wine and honey, and much more besides". The putt putt mentality and cheapo advertisements are now out of synch with what's happening in places like Cape Kidnappers.
Correct me if I'm wrong about this subject, but at least I'm thinking about it.