Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau’s $50k trip to Asia, was it worth it?

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says criticism of her $50,000 trip to Asia was “uncalled for” and the delegation was worth its weight in gold for local businesses.

The Wellington Phoenix are now working on leads to create an international football scholarship, Massey University has signed a new letter of intent making it easier for Chinese film students to study here, and Floating Rock scored meetings about its new animated TV series that coincidentally features a playful T-Rex named Tori.

The trip was such a success, Whanau hopes to return in a year’s time.

Some councillors criticised the cost of the trip and questioned whether it was necessary to send four senior city council officials along with the mayor.

But Whanau said the trip was consistent with many others that mayors have taken in the past.

“The level of work that gets put into this trip and the staffing support needed is something I’ve never seen before.

“Countries like China and to an extent, Japan and South Korea, place so much importance on their international diplomats and mayors that the level of interaction, the level of events and work that’s required, is much higher than what perhaps New Zealand is used to. They treat you like a Prime Minister essentially.”

Whanau said she and the staff who accompanied her would work from 8am to 9.30pm each day.

“It was the hardest I’ve ever worked.”

Whanau will formally report back on the trip and its benefit to the local economy in November.

Visual effects company Floating Rock joined the delegation to seek investment for a new animated TV series for young adults.

Kyōryū, which means dinosaur in Japanese, is the company’s first major project based on its own IP, with four others also in development.

Company co-founder Laurent Herveic said it was an honour to participate in the trip.

“It has been extremely helpful to have the support of Screen Wellington and Wellington City Council to secure meetings we would have really struggled to get alone. We had more than 10 meetings with top Chinese and Korean VFX and gaming studios.”

Wellington Phoenix general manager David Dome said there was significant interest in creating an English-language football scholarship model that would see young Chinese footballers call Wellington home.

Dome has also made contact with the chairman of a Super League club who is keen to set up youth development programmes in Wellington.

“We need to make the club financially sustainable and potentially sharing resources with large clubs overseas is one way to achieve that.

“And I would have to say that if the cost of the Mayoral Delegation was $50,000, it was the best $50,000 the Council has spent in a long time. There was significant interest in working with Wellington businesses.”

During the trip, Massey University signed a new letter of intent with Xiamen University, which will make it easier for Chinese film students to complete their studies in Wellington at the new National Academy of Screen Arts.

Massey already has more than 2,000 Chinese students enrolled at the university. The average economic contribution per international student is $39,290, according to pre-pandemic figures.

A university spokesperson said Xiamen is renowned for its growing film industry.

“The letter of intent, signed by Associate Dean Research Oli Wilson, is a mechanism to show our commitment to future collaboration between Massey and Xiamen’s film academies.

“Since Dr Wilson’s return from China, Massey has initiated a discussion to further explore opportunities, not only for student exchange but also staff knowledge exchange.”

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.