Te Puia NZMACI, Tohu Experiences, Tongariro River Rafting, and Kohutapu Lodge & Tribal Tours have been announced as finalists of the 2025 New Zealand Tourism Awards.
Four tourism businesses operating around Rotorua and Taupō are in the running for some of the country’s top industry honours.
Te Puia NZMACI, Tohu Experiences, Tongariro River Rafting, and Kohutapu Lodge & Tribal Tours have been announced as finalists of the 2025 New Zealand Tourism Awards.
The awards showcase tourism business achievements across 12 categories, with a record 150 entries this year.
For the Toroa ā-uta, Toroa ā-tai Māori Tourism Award, Te Puia, Tohu Experiences, and Kohutapu Lodge & Tribal Tours – in collaboration with AU Consulting – took up three of the four finalist spots.
Kohutapu, which offers immersive cultural experiences from its lodge in Galatea, won the award last year.
Owner and director Nadine ToeToe said the team entered again this year after using AU Consulting technology to create health and safety modules for visitors.
The modules teach visitors about tikanga and expected behaviours before they arrive at the lodge. ToeToe said the aim was to avoid unintentional, but “awkward” moments of inappropriate behaviours or comments.
Having that “cultural base knowledge” enhanced the experience for visitors while uplifting indigenous staff and communities, ToeToe said.
ToeToe was an individual finalist for the Auckland Airport Tourism Industry Champion Award 2025.
Judges noted her “passion and dedication” to using tourism to drive social and cultural impact.
To be a finalist was “humbling” and a “beacon of light” for staff, she said.
Kohutapu Lodge & Tribal Tours was also shortlisted for the Community Engagement Award, recognising its strong connections with whānau and local communities.
Te Puia chief executive Tim Cossar said being named a finalist next to some of New Zealand’s largest tourism operators was a source of pride for the geothermal park’s team, and it was “no small thing to even reach this stage”.
Te Puia was also a finalist for the Visitor Experience Award and the Tourism Excellence Award (Large Business).
Cossar said Te Puia had made “bold decisions” that carried commercial risks after the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said judges recognised the organisation’s unique model of funding Māori arts training from within its commercial operations, and that was “especially meaningful”.
The personal connections visitors made with Te Puia guides and staff were what left the “strongest” impressions, Cossar said.
Te Puia launched its newest attraction, the Mārama Geyser Light Trail, on Wednesday, transforming the Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley into an immersive night-time spectacle until April.
Visitors walk a path through 10 illuminated scenes – a carved sculpture representing the breath of the Pōhutu Geyser, light boxes created by New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute students, and whakairo rākau (wood carvings) by master carver Albert Poai Te Pou.
Singer-songwriter Maisey Rika created the soundscape for the trail.
Cossar said the trail further showed the organisation’s commitment to placing Māori culture and its connection to the environment at the centre of its offerings.
Tongariro River Rafting, based in Tūrangi, is also a finalist for the Visitor Experience Award.
Owner Garth Oakden said it was the first time Tongariro River Rafting had entered the awards, and the team was “extremely excited and proud”.
The business was also in the running for the Tourism Excellence Award (Micro Business).
Oakden said the team worked hard to deliver memorable experiences and looked forward to representing the Taupō region at the awards night.
Tak Mutu, director of Rotorua whitewater rafting, mountain-biking and kayaking adventure business Tohu Experiences, said his team was also looking forward to “carrying our city’s flag”.
Tohu Experiences was a finalist in the KiwiRail Tourism Environment Award, acknowledging its commitment to sustainability, as well as the Māori Tourism category. It had been a finalist at the tourism awards every year since 2019.
Mutu said it had invested a lot of time and money into its electrification project, the initiative the organisation put forward for the awards, involving a “green” four-wheel drive ute option for transporting visitors around.
Mutu said they were “pretty darn stoked” to be recognised by others.
Tourism Industry Aotearoa, which runs the annual awards, said the finalists “demonstrate world-class visitor experiences and industry leadership while championing sustainability and community values”.
Winners will be announced at an awards dinner in Wellington on October 29.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.