The Carnival Splendor is the final cruise ship at the Napier Port for the 2023 to 2024 season.
The Carnival Splendor is the final cruise ship at the Napier Port for the 2023 to 2024 season.
The chair of Hawke’s Bay’s tourism body says the region risks becoming a “backwater” after hearing key funder Hawke’s Bay Regional Council wants to gradually defund the organisation.
HBRC released draft Long-Term Plan documents on Friday, revealing a preferred option of fully defunding Hawke’s Bay Tourism over twoyears, with significant funding cuts within the first year.
A second option in the plan would see Hawke’s Bay Tourism maintain $1.52 million in funding for 2024-25 and have that reduced to $441,000 for 2025-26, giving the organisation more time to secure funding from other sources.
The draft plan said while tourism was important to Hawke’s Bay, finding a sustainable funding model had been challenging and the changes would significantly reduce regional council rates.
Hawke’s Bay Tourism is the official regional tourism organisation, encompassing Central Hawke’s Bay District, Hastings District, Napier City and Wairoa District.
It is a membership-based organisation that aims to promote and co-ordinate opportunities for economic growth and prosperity for the visitor industry in Hawke’s Bay. Its primary funding comes from HBRC and membership fees from tourism businesses that belong to the Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry Association.
“Currently Hawke’s Bay Tourism receives $1.52 million in funding from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to attract domestic and international visitors to our region,” Hawke’s Bay Tourism chairman George Hickton said.
“Our visitor economy is a top earner for Hawke’s Bay, generating more than $1.3 billion in direct and indirect benefits yearly and employing one in every 10 locals. Our funding of $1.52 million has remained unchanged over the last 6 financial years with no CPI adjustment, reducing our buying power over time by $0.5 million.”
Hickton said he understood the financial pressures that councils were facing but stressed Hawke’s Bay Tourism was instrumental to keeping the region’s tourism sector afloat after the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
He also noted that HBRC was supporting other sectors hurt by the cyclone so tourism - also significantly impacted - should not be left to weather the storm alone.
Hawke’s Bay Tourism chairman George Hickton speaking to members of the local tourism industry, at The Mission Estate Winery Chapel, Taradale, Napier. Photo / Duncan Brown
Hickton said the second option proposed by the council would be their preferred one, and the organisation had also come up with an alternative proposal anyway, in which HBRC maintained its funding for one year and local councils would - he hoped - step in to fund the organisation directly from 2025.
“We don’t want to see any cut to our funding, at the same time acknowledging that post-cyclone, everyone has got to tighten their belt. That’s why we’re not asking for any funding increase, despite the fact that our buying power has been severely impacted by rising costs,” Hickton said.
A joint letter seen by Hawke’s Bay Today and signed by the Hastings, Napier and CHB mayors endorsed the counter-proposal.
In the letter, mayors said they were “committed to working together for the long-term benefit of the Hawke’s Bay tourism sector”.
On April 10, regional councillors will approve the draft Long Term Plan for public consultation. Hickton said he hoped to generate support for the second option.
“If the funding tap is turned off, Hawke’s Bay will lose ground to other regions, and become a regional backwater with the inevitable loss of jobs and business.”
The tourism-related funding was designated “to restore the local tourism industries in the three regions following the disruption caused by Cyclone Gabrielle” and included money the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) had earmarked to support Art Deco Trust events.
The fund was also provided on the condition that money from other sources would not be reduced as a result.
Mega cruise season ends
Friday’s blow for Hawke’s Bay Tourism coincided with the arrival of the Carnival Splendor cruise ship, the last to come into the Port of Napier for the 2023/24 cruise ship season.
Hawke’s Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton said the 90-day season saw about 138,000 passengers disembark from a total of 89 vessels.
The Carnival Splendor is the final cruise ship at the Napier Port for the 2023 to 2024 season.
Saxton said it was a record season that saw very few disruptions, and the tourism was a much-needed “injection” into the Hawke’s Bay economy after Cyclone Gabrielle closed major state highways.
“Last season was impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, which saw us lose roughly a month’s worth of visits and up to $5 million, so it is wonderful to have a full season with very few disruptions.
“Our visitor economy rebounded to record its highest ever contribution to the regional GDP, of $775 million for the 12 months to September 2023 and continues to employ one in 10 locals.”
He said the Hawke’s Bay tourism industry has “buoyed the local economy in many ways this summer and was the third biggest contributor to regional GDP”.
