Mayoral candidates Robert Lee (left), Haehaetu Barrett and Tania Tapsell during The Great Rotorua Debate at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre. Photo / Mathew Nash
Mayoral candidates Robert Lee (left), Haehaetu Barrett and Tania Tapsell during The Great Rotorua Debate at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre. Photo / Mathew Nash
People around the country are too “scared” to come to Rotorua, a mayoral hopeful has claimed.
Council candidates, industry leaders and community members gathered at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre on Monday night to hear three of Rotorua’s five mayoral candidates outline their tourism plans in a debate ahead ofnext month’s election.
Incumbent Tania Tapsell and mayoral challengers Robert Lee and Haehaetu Barrett were present and around 120 people attended.
Rebuilding Rotorua’s reputation and repairing its visitor perception dominated the discussion.
Quizzed on how to improve the city’s nightlife, Barrett said that in interactions across the country she had been told by people they “are scared to come to Rotorua”.
She said Rotorua needed a return to community values in order to “rebuild and reconnect our reputation that it is safe, and you will be looked after”.
Some of the audience at The Great Rotorua Debate at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre. Photo / Mathew Nash
Lee linked Rotorua’s image problems to contracted emergency housing motels.
“It has harmed our reputation and hurt us so badly,” he said.
“We can’t be a thriving tourist destination and simultaneously be a thriving social housing destination.”
He said a choice had to be made and he “chose tourism”.
Tapsell pointed to the recent decrease in the number of contracted emergency housing motels to five, with the aim of reducing to two special needs emergency housing options by the end of the year.
She said Rotorua would continue to “help people in need”.
Rotorua had the joint-second-lowest approval rating across the country when it came to crime. One factor the 2022 report attributed this to was the “clusters of motels” used for emergency and transitional housing associated with antisocial behaviour and crime.
A question about Eat Streat and Rotorua's nightlife sparked debate about safety and crime. Photo / Ben Fraser
Rotorua data from New Zealand Police shows a 2.5% drop in all crimes in the year to July 2025, compared with the preceding 12 months. However, crimes against a person, including violent crimes like assault, increased by 0.79%.
Velocity Valley managing director Simon Short, who was at the meeting, told Local Democracy Reporting on Tuesday there had “definitely” been improvements in Rotorua.
He believed Rotorua was now suffering from a “perception” issue, with “negative” media reporting not helping.
“Every single town has the same problems but in Rotorua the perception seems to be amplified.
“It’s not a true perception of what the town is like, it’s a beautiful city.”
Velocity Valley managing director Simon Short. Photo / Supplied
Candidates at Monday’s meeting also fielded questions on adventure tourism, RotoruaNZ funding and revenue generation.
Haydn Marriner, chairman of the Backpacker Youth and Adventure Tourism Association, was a moderator on the evening. He said it was ”vital” to hear from the candidates and hoped young and adventure travellers would be considered as a key demographic in future.
“They make up 25% of New Zealand’s market, spend more on leisure, drive social media advocacy, and present the biggest growth potential, especially as Rotorua sits at just 85% of pre-Covid international arrivals.”
Mayoral candidate Don Paterson could not attend due to a family emergency. He provided a pre-recorded video that detailed TV and film productions, a revitalised events calendar, golf tourism and upscaling the airport as his four key tourism platforms.
The event was co-hosted by the Rotorua Tourism Investment Partnership and the Backpacker Youth and Adventure Tourism Association.
Voting in Rotorua’s local elections remains open until October 11.
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
