Tourists uncovering more to do at Te Mata Park

HBT17216206.JPG. EXTRAORDINARY: Te Mata Peak is renowned for the panoramic view it offers of Hawke's Bay's landscape. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND.

By bus, bike, or by foot - every year hundreds of thousands ascend Te Mata Peak to take in the panoramic views of Hawke's Bay.

Although locals are the main users of the park, the 2015-2025 Te Mata Management Plan states the grounds are the region's "pinnacle park", which draws a large number of tourists to the summit.

"Te Mata Peak has been consistently rated as the Bay's premier tourist activity and is ranked as the #1 Thing To Do in Hawke's Bay on Trip Advisor."

Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas said the park, and it's "extraordinary" view was loved by local residents and visitors alike.

"It's a very well visited iconic attraction in Hawke's Bay. It's a fairly significant piece of our tourism infrastructure," she said.

"Any tour company that's running tours in Hawke's Bay will be including Te Mata Peak...it is a very essential part to any of those tours."

Although they did not collect data on how many visited it every year, Ms Dundas said she thought the use of the park might have changed to become more multi-use.

The park was a cultural site, but had become increasingly recreational - with a number of trails used for walking and mountain biking.

"A lot of people go up the top but I think more people are uncovering that they can get on a mountain bike and ride it, or walk through the redwoods," she said. "Those aren't just things for locals anymore, they're becoming really popular things for visitors to do as well."

While the park's plan states a growth in tourists was "exciting, it brings fresh challenges for the Park in adequately managing the impacts of growing visitor numbers".

International visitors were primarily sightseers, in need of car parking, views, and information. While domestic visitors were also in need of these facilities, they were more often interested in recreational activities, meaning they also wanted toilets, viewing facilities, and tracks.

The current improvements to facilities at the park would help add to the "visitor experience", and would give people more reason to visit, Ms Dundas said.

"Obviously you want to make sure it still maintains its specialness and we don't end up with litter. It is about protecting what is a pretty iconic and special and spiritual place in Hawke's Bay for many people."

The number of visitors is most noticeable during cruise ship season, when buses climb the narrow road up to the peak with hundreds of passengers.

Nimons operations manager Ian Hughes said it would be nice to have more toilets at the park, "apart from that it's all good up there".

The operator had the largest number of buses leaving Napier Port, he said. On average for a cruise ship, it would have four to six buses making the trip up the peak.

"When we do Te Mata Park there's quite a wide range of visitors going up there," Mr Hughes said.

"Up the top is pretty high demand, a lot of people want to go up there because they've heard about it. It's the highlight of their trip."

The cruise market is growing, with nearly 60 ships already scheduled for the 2017-2018 season.