Cooking up a storm

Food writers, critics and enthusiasts did not just get a taste for Rotorua at Auckland's No1 Queen Street cafe this week, they experienced the flavour of the city.

Destination Rotorua Marketing invited the elite of New Zealand's cuisine media to its Auckland base to experience a more urban Rotorua experience this week in its Taste Rotorua promotion.

Acting general manager Tania Bui said the response had been amazing and the resulting exposure would help open New Zealanders' eyes to what Rotorua had to offer.

"This is really different to what we normally do. We have a vibrant food and beverage scene here in Rotorua and some unique dining experiences as well as all the staples like great coffee, entertainment and cafes, and we wanted to put some of the misconceptions to rest to specifically target these types of offerings."

Taste Rotorua is the latest in a series of promotions from the central Auckland base, including trips on the Rotorua Duck Tours vehicles, Ogo activities and spa treatments from Wai Ora.

"We have had people coming out of their offices and queuing for some of these things."

DRM has secured use of No1 Queen Street until the end of March.

Bui said the cafe was visible in most television reports from The Cloud and activities were proving popular.

"You cannot put a value on the media exposure we have had and the number of people we have been able to influence, but the returns are hard to measure."

Destination Rotorua Marketing will, however, be keeping track of the number of coffees sold, each with a promotional sticker, brochures given out and bookings made through the Auckland site, as well as Rotorua visitor statistics to quantify the success of the initiative.

Bui estimates the No1 Queen Street promotion will cost about $300,000, including the venue and events and promotions around it.

She said it was a big investment but things needed to be done differently during a global recession.

"You do have to spend money before you can leverage it and, with that amount, we would have been lucky to get one static billboard in Auckland during the Rugby World Cup.

"We really wanted to bring Rotorua to life for people rather than just having static billboards or handing out brochures."

More operators will get the chance to participate in events at the cafe in the coming months - including two trade events on October 18 and 19.

Details about these and other planned events will be outlined at a tourism forum at the Holiday Inn next Thursday between 10am and midday.