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A new daily tourist bus service soon to start running into and out of Hokianga will largely restore the area's regular public passenger transport link to the outside world.
The Hokianga link was broken two years ago when a private bus operator contracted to InterCity Coachlines stopped a
regular service through Hokianga, the Waipoua Forest and Dargaville because of poor patronage and operating losses.
From next month, the InterCity Group plans to run a daily return service between Paihia in the Bay of Islands and Hokianga, via Kaikohe.
Although the focus is on attracting Bay of Islands-bound foreign and domestic tourists to include Hokianga in their itinerary, the service will also sell tickets to local travellers from the west coast who want to connect to public InterCity buses travelling north and south from Paihia.
The new east-west service, using buses under InterCity's Kings Tours brand, follows the scheduled signing of an arrangement in Hokianga today between InterCity Group and west coast tour operators Footprints Waipoua and Crossings Hokianga.
The two Maori-led tourism ventures are owned and operated by Hokianga residents.
Footprints Waipoua, launched in January 2005, and Crossings Hokianga, which started in December, will both retain control of their respective cultural, spiritual and educational tours based on the history of Hokianga people, its land, forest and sea.
InterCity says it is committed to working with local Maori to help build responsible tourism in Hokianga that will benefit the community there.
Company chief executive Malcolm Johns estimates the partnership with Footprints Waipoua and Crossings Hokianga will help attract 15,000 more tourists to Hokianga during the next three years and inject more than $4 million into the local economy.
Mr Johns says the new Paihia-based bus service, known as Kings Crossings Hokianga Day Tours, will start daily on September 20 and run until after Easter or into early May.
After that, frequency of service will depend on demand.
The company is spending $700,000 to build two new buses in Tauranga.
At least one new 49-seater and a 12-seat minibus will be used on the Paihia-Hokianga run which will include stops at Opononi, Omapere and Rawene.
A single one-way fare from Hokianga to Paihia to connect with services to Whangarei and Auckland will cost $45. A day tour from Paihia, returning via the Waipoua Forest, will be $105.