Having lived in large cities, there's certainly something to be said for just being able to walk down the street and bump into someone you know.
When there's an issue, you don't go and stew about it, you just front up and have a conversation. I love it here.
As a destination, we hear from our international manuhiri all the time how Rotorua is one of the most exciting and interesting places to visit, so we already have an enormous head start over most, if not all, other destinations in New Zealand,
We have an extremely proud track record of hosting visitors, overcoming challenges from natural disasters, global recessions, you name it - we're a highly resilient bunch of people who have the ability to bounce back from adversity.
Our destination management plan sets out a strategic pathway for sustainable tourism development to ensure Rotorua is a thriving visitor destination for the benefit of the local community.
One of the key things highlighted by our community as we developed our plan was the desire to be focused on value-led tourism and the importance of being clear about those values we cherish so we can expand on that as a destination.
The challenge for us all is to work out how we make sure that as a tourism destination, we collectively demonstrate these values in the way we run our businesses.
Thinking about how we give back to the community in line with what our manuhiri expect from a values perspective, and also how manuhiri exhibit those values while they're here.
I truly believe these are the types of visitors we should be attracting – people who really understand our proposition as a destination and have an alignment to what our values are, because it is a reciprocal arrangement that exists between our community and visitors.
My vision for Rotorua is that the standard of the developments at Lakefront and the Whakarewarewa Forest are reflected throughout the city.
Alongside that, we would see private business owners seeking to lift their product offerings to a similar standard.
And while it isn't something that can happen overnight, we need to work alongside one another, making sure the investment in the public space continues to uplift our city, and that we do everything we can to support those private businesses to consider the investment that's required in their own operations.
It's through basic things like seeing higher wages and salaries throughout various sectors, and seeing greater support for environmental programmes and community initiatives, that will really make a difference.
There's a whole suite of initiatives, both financial and non-financial, that need to work in tandem so we can absolutely deliver upon the promise of our place.
This is how we will lift the values that we are committed to as a destination as we make that offering to visitors and expect them to correspondingly return in terms of their support for our community.
Rotorua is full of potential with amazing people who are proud to call this place home.
If we all continue to work together to overcome any challenges we meet along the way, I'm optimistic we'll reach our aspirations as a destination sooner than we might expect.
Andrew Wilson is the chief executive for RotoruaNZ - the economic development agency and regional tourism organisation for the Rotorua district.
Fighting for Rotorua is part of a major NZME editorial project, The New New Zealand: Rebuilding Better, which will examine how we can rebuild economically and socially as we emerge from Covid and create a fairer and more prosperous New Zealand.
