'Significant portion' of $1m grant to go on marketing Hawke's Bay as tourist destination

Hawke's Bay Tourism will receive $1,000,000 to bolster tourism in the region. Photo / Ian Cooper

A large chunk of $1,000,000 given to Hawke's Bay Tourism will be spent on marketing campaigns to bring visitors to the region.

Hamish Saxton, CEO of Hawke's Bay Tourism is "extremely grateful" for the additional support the region has received.

"Over the past 12 months, we invested funding from the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme (STAPP) into supporting Hawke's Bay's visitor economy and achieved very significant, positive results.

''In an environment with little to no international visitors, the STAPP funding assisted us in not just maintaining visitor spend but growing it.

"With borders still closed, this second round of funding is absolutely vital as we continue to support, reset, and recover our region's vibrant visitor economy.

"A significant portion of the funds will be invested into marketing campaigns to attract visitors to Hawke's Bay.

''These campaigns will target growth from proven markets to the region, such as Wellington and Auckland, and will support the additional capacity put on by Air New Zealand and Origin Air.

"The funding will also be used for an extension of the food and wine project, which was initially funded out of STAPP, as well as a specialised focus on business events."

$26.6m has been allocated to 31 Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) nationwide.

This comes after a recorded 30 per cent increase in spending from the year June 2020-June 2021.

Tourism Minister, Stuart Nash said "domestic tourism is experiencing a boom as Kiwis take the opportunity to 'do something new' and see more of their own backyard".

"RTOs work alongside industry reps, community groups, iwi, councils and others on destination management plans for how they propose to work together. Their proposals have now been signed off and funding can be allocated," Nash says.