Minister Nathan Guy at today's launch. PHOTO/JOHN BORREN
The Bay of Plenty will receive a "small but significant" $158,000 funding boost to support the development of a new collaborative regional tourism framework.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy announced the funding during his launch of the 2016 Bay of Connections Yearly Report in Tauranga today.
"We know your domestic and international tourism could be worth $2.5 billion to this region by 2030," said Mr Guy.
The Government will contribute $79,000 towards the visitor economy project, with another $79,000 contributed by the Bay of Plenty region. A six-month contract for the work has been awarded to TRC Tourism.
The project aims to develop four sub-regional tourism strategies - Rotorua, Western Bay of Plenty, Eastern Bay of Plenty and Taupo - a regional strategy, and a set of agreed regional priorities.
"It's all about enhancing those different districts to showcase the opportunity they have to attract more tourists into your region," said Mr Guy.
Destination Rotorua chief executive Michelle Templer said the announcement was incredibly positive for Rotorua and the greater Bay of Plenty.
"This will enable us as a sub-region to consider what needs to happen to ensure that we have the infrastructure required to continue to deliver a world-class visitor experience," she said.
"We are confident that this will enable us to identify the region's key public and private investment opportunities and in turn will ensure that we are well placed to maximise the value of our visitor industry."
Bay of Connections chairman Doug Leeder said the funding announcement was a significant milestone for the region, the tourism industry and for Bay of Connections.
"This is the first time the Bay of Plenty visitor economy sector has worked together in this way."
Mr Leeder said developing a collaborative regional tourism framework was a key focus in the tourism action plan.
Andrew Wilson, the Rotorua Lakes Council's business lead with the Bay of Connections on tourism strategy, said Rotorua welcomed the opportunity to get all of the sub-regions into a similar place in terms of identifying gaps in critical infrastructure and required investment.
"Certainly overall a stronger Bay of Plenty proposition is going to be beneficial for all parts," he said. "It's a great opportunity to develop something that means we have some common language across the four sub-regions."
Tourism Bay of Plenty head of marketing Kath Low said the organisation had been working with Destination Lake Taupo, Destination Rotorua and regional partners, as well as the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment to understand how best to further enhance the region's collective tourism offering.
"We offer a sensational, diverse, stunning and culturally rich holiday experience," she said.
"However there are challenges which we collectively need to better understand. We have all agreed to invest funding to understand what the gaps are within our region and determine how we improve the visitor experience. Tourists have no interest or understanding of geographic boundaries and we all appreciate the opportunity we have in working collaboratively."
Bay of Connections visitor economy workstream lead Tania Bui said it was important to emphasise that the project was not about a joint marketing of the region.
"It's about a combined effort to ready the wider Bay of Plenty to capitalise on New Zealand's tourism growth. Visitor numbers are going to continue to increase, and we need to ensure that we're ready for them with the right infrastructure, policies and assets, so they can stay longer in our region."
Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Action Plan
-The tourism project is part of the action plan, launched last year to implement the findings of the Regional Growth Study.
-The plan is being overseen by the Bay of Connections.