Multi award winning international tourism consultant Professor Terry Stevens is in Rotorua this weekend and will provide rare insight into global best practice for destination development.
Professor Stevens has been a tourism consultant for more than 30 years and has worked in over 50 countries for a number of international economic development agencies including the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, UNESCO, and the World Bank as well as national, regional and local tourism organisations.
Private sector clients have included Coca Cola, Philips, and Guinness to name a few.
In recent years Professor Stevens has undertaken a range of international visitor destination benchmarking studies. This has included specific benchmarking for Rotorua which will provide insight into the learnings from other comparable tourism destinations around the globe.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick saw Professor Stevens speak at a world global spa summit in Morocco in 2014.
"I particularly want to hear his angle on what we as an internationally competitive visitor destination need to do. What are the other aspects that any planning needs to consider?"
"Getting someone with external internationally recognised eyes to look at our forward plan as a natural hot springs and spa destination is important. He doesn't have to be a secret shopper but he can look at what we're doing in the inner city, what we're doing in terms of attracting new investment in this space and what bits might be missing," she said.
Two years ago Rotorua brought television MasterChef judge Ray McVinnie to talk about lifting the hospitality and food opportunities in the city.
"It's a similar opportunity with Professor Stevens. It will have resonance with our planners, the inner city group, the visitor sector and investors in the wider Rotorua economy. This is a perfect time to reconsider our approach within the context of global best practise and to identify if there are things missing or we can be doing better," said Mrs Chadwick.
Rotorua partners are assisting with Prof Steven's trip. "They've come to the party," she said.
"Our partnerships are getting real traction. These extra eyes will be quite critical. I want Prof Stevens to see where we are at and where we should be in five years. He's well known in the global industry - he's not a bit player in this game."
The visit would focus on economic growth, about having confidence in the Rotorua destination and confidence about the key propositions for investment, she said.
"This is an opportunity for local stakeholders to listen to him, throw the ideas around and out of the week will come something that is quite compelling."
Over the course of a week in Rotorua Professor Stevens will evaluate the region and partake in a variety of visitor experiences.
He will also present to the students and staff at Waiariki Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and meet and front sessions with a variety of stakeholders, including local iwi, representatives from the visitor industry and key personnel from our neighbouring regions and central government, along with dedicated Rotorua Lakes Council workshops focussed on the role of the local authority.
Follow the link for an example of Professor Stevens facilitating a discussion on future trends in sports tourism for Euro Sport: https://youtu.be/jVzHBKPPIH4