Tourism boss hails region's Te Reo strength

Annie Dundas, Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager, feels Te Reo is more important than ever to tourism. Photo / Paul Taylor

The popularity of Te Reo Maori among Hawke's Bay secondary school students is good for the region, according to a local tourism boss.

Figures from the Ministry of Education show Maori was the most studied language - after English - among secondary school students in the region during the past three years.

An average of 1373 students per year signed up to learn Maori each year for the past three years.

Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas said people liked a point of difference when they visited a country and having an understanding of the Maori language was important.

"It's unique to New Zealand, so it's a pretty special part of the tourism mix."

More local Maori tourism businesses were developing, so it seemed there would be jobs for those who had studied the language.

"International visitors are looking for authentic cultural experiences so the more visitors we get the more experiences that they'll want to have."

Ms Dundas said Mandarin was another language students should consider learning.

Many visitors to Hawke's Bay were New Zealanders. The next-biggest market was Australia, followed by the United States and the United Kingdom.

"But the China market is certainly growing and, with the amount of business that is being done with Chinese companies here in Hawke's Bay, it wouldn't be a bad thing to learn that language," Ms Dundas said.

Throughout the country, there has been a steady drop in secondary school language enrolments since 2008.

There was a 19 per cent decrease in students signing up to learn a language other than English between July 2008 and July 2014.

The head of student achievement at the Ministry of Education, Graham Stoop, said learning a language was increasingly important to ensure New Zealand children became confident, connected global citizens.

"As the market for goods and services has become increasingly globalised, language is more important than ever."

Dr Stoop said learner numbers tended to taper off at senior secondary level but there had been an overall increase in language students, especially in primary schools, during the past 10 years.

"Students are learning languages from an earlier age and there has been a steep rise in students taking Mandarin, as parents increasingly see Chinese as an important language."

He said quality teaching was critical for high-quality outcomes and the Ministry of Education aimed to increase the number of qualified language teachers nationwide.

Nationally at a secondary level, Te Reo Maori, French, Japanese and Spanish were the most studied languages, with Te Reo taking the top spot.

Tokelauan, Korean and Niuean have been the least popular since 2008, gathering no more than three dozen students throughout the country each year.NZME