Summer catch up with Tak Mutu (+video)

While many people are enjoying a few weeks off over Christmas, Rotorua's Tak Mutu won't be one of them.

For Mr Mutu the summer season is busy season and he's got plenty on his plate running two tourism businesses with his older brother Tu and preparing for the Southern Hemisphere's largest mountain biking festival - Crankworx.

Recently, Mr Mutu and the directors behind Rotorua's Crankworx festival, signed a contract to keep the world-renowned festival in Rotorua for the next 10 years and preparation for next year's event, that runs for nine days from March 25, are already under way.

This year's Crankworx festival injected an estimated $8 million into the Rotorua economy and Mr Mutu said he wanted to take the event from strength to strength by organising an adventure tourism trade expo, more community events, and amateur events where "Joe average" can mix with professionals on the same courses.

But, he said he was sure this summer would not be as full-on as last year when, in the space of three weeks, he and his partner of 14 years, Jayne Hendrikse, bought a new house, ran Crankworx and had their first child.

"It was a good three weeks, but I can't imagine next year will be that intense," he said.

But, first thing's first, he'll have Christmas Day off with the extended family before they get back to work showing off Rotorua to high-end tourists with Mountain Bike Rotorua and Multi-Day Adventures.

Rotorua born and raised - his mother and father still live in the family home at Ruato Bay on Lake Rotoiti - Mr Mutu started out doing an adventure tourism course at Waiariki (Toi Ohomai) before becoming a raft guide, then buying Multi-Day Adventures with his brother in 2008.

"It's a tight-knit group. There's Tu, myself, there's Ari who is one of our cousins, and his daughter, my sister-in-law works with us, along with a few more cousins.

"We try to keep it in the family, but we also have 20 full time staff and another 60 part timers, who mainly come in over summer."

He's already thinking ahead, past next year's Crankworx and has a 10-year vision for the event.

"We know there're a lot of people riding, but you can never rest on your laurels.

"If you get complacent people catch up. It's what happened to Rotorua 20 years ago and we have only just caught up.

"The other towns will overtake us again and that's the last thing we want."

Tak Mutu
- Takurua (Tak) Mutu, 32
- Crankworx event director
- Co-owner Mountain Bike Rotorua (MBR)
- Co-owner Multi-Day Adventures (MDA)
- Partner Jayne Hendrikse and 9-month-old daughter Maia