Tourism summit shows political awareness of sector

Improved political awareness of the tourism sector, the importance of innovation and the opportunities yet to be tapped in Maori tourism were all key issues to come out of the national Tourism Summit.
Leaders from the industry met with key political figures in Wellington on Wednesday. Among them were Rotorua Tourism Committee chairman Tony Marks and deputy chairman Oscar Nathan.
Nathan told The Daily Post the presence of representatives from all the major political parties demonstrated an improved awareness of the sector within political circles. The role of Maori tourism was discussed and he spoke on how this would grow post-settlements and how tourism would likely be an add-on to other interests such as food production.
"Maori tourism still has a long way to go and grow the overall visitor experience and it's clear from the likes of Peter Sharples that much more depth and genuine experience opportunity remains untapped."
Nathan said tourism generally was laid down the challenge of better immersing itself into areas of innovation. "This is something Sir Ray Avery highlighted, as an initiative he was focusing on through the concept of the Knowledge Bank."
Marks said it was great to hear from the Australian Tourism managing director Andrew McEvoy.
"The issues they face are quite similar to those of New Zealand and there is a great spirit of co-operation between the two countries to capture dual destination travellers, while competing for single destination visitors."
New Zealand's first annual State of the Tourism Sector report was released at the summit and Tourism Industry Association chief executive Tim Cossar said the document provided an excellent snapshot of where the industry is positioned and where the challenges lay. "It confirms for us the issues raised by operators in the road shows [we] ran around the country in March and April. As well as economic conditions, operators are grappling with the impacts of natural disasters in Christchurch, Queensland and Japan, the changing visitor mix and preparing for Rugby World Cup 2011."
The document highlights the diversity of the tourism industry, by sector and geography. "Research identifies that achieving greater cohesion across the sector will help us collectively deal with the issues we are facing."
Professor David Simmons of Lincoln University said other findings highlighted the importance of the visitor economy to New Zealand, the critical nature of airline connections and the growing use of social media.
Simmons said partnerships beyond the tourism sector were needed to strengthen the position of the industry and raise its profile and current turbulence could be calmed by greater unity, education, leadership, and a more proactive approach to change.