A local tourism operator has sounded alarm bells after two Waikato councils made u-turns on tourism funding.
Following conversations with Hamilton and Waikato Tourism after the Long-Term Plan adoption, Ōtorohanga and Waitomo District councils decided to cut all contributions to the regional tourism organisation.
This meantthe two districts, and operators like Waitomo Adventures and the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House, would no longer receive tourism sector support and be promoted as great places to visit.
Both councils previously contributed $72,338 to Hamilton and Waikato Tourism, however, as part of their LTP discussions, Ōtorohanga District Council decided to cut 50% of their previous funding, while Waitomo District Council cut 60%.
Hamilton and Waikato Tourism chief executive Nicola Greenwell said the Long-Term Plan process across the organisation’s six supporting councils had been a challenging time.
“Like all councils, Waitomo and Ōtorohanga have had to make difficult decisions ... Both adopted to significantly reduce their funding,” Greenwell said.
“We were prepared to accept that, but provide a lesser service level and exclude sector support and capability building [for those councils] from our services.
“They declined that and decided to withdraw completely.
“Therefore, as much as this saddens us, we need to extricate Waitomo and Ōtorohanga from our work ... [and] these districts will no longer be promoted as a great place to visit,” she said.
Waitomo Mayor John Robertson.
Greenwell said she believed HWT had done a good job in promoting the districts.
“The issue is, there is no data to prove how many visitors come to or spend in our region because of our work.
“But for example in Waitomo, the visitor spend was $101 million last year. Even if just 3% of visitor expenditure [because of HWT work] - although I strongly believe that it would have to be more - that would still be a return of $3.1 million for the community. For an investment of $73,000.”
Waitomo Mayor John Robertson said his council’s focus had been the ratepayers.
“All our constituents are under pressure. Like any council, we want to ease the burden on our ratepayers.”
Exploring the underground wonderland at Waitomo Caves. Photo / Shaun Jeffers
He said the council had been in talks with Hamilton and Waikato Tourism and would have been prepared to contribute financially if local tourism operators had matched the council’s contribution.
“Hamilton and Waikato Tourism declined to support that, so the funding got pulled.”
Robertson said he was not concerned that the decision would impact the local tourism industry.
“We as a council are comfortable with that [decision].”
He said there were no alternative plans for the promotion of the district as a tourism destination.
“There is no particular initiative from our side, no ratepayer money has been allocated to this.”
Waitomo Adventures chief executive Nick Andreef.
Waitomo Adventures owner-operator Nick Andreef has been a local tourism operator for 37 years and believes the council made the wrong decision.
“I am bitterly disappointed with the council’s decision,” Andreef said.
“I understand the council was under a lot of pressure ... but I’d call this throwing out the baby to save the bathwater.”
He said a few tourism businesses had already closed and he feared a looming decline in “product innovation”. Despite this, Andreef said he was not concerned about his business.
“We are well-established, we’ll weather this storm, but I’m concerned for the health of the towns in the area.
Ōtorohanga Mayor Max Baxter.
“It takes a big effort to draw international tourists to New Zealand and then into the Waikato. Once they are here, they don’t just spend money on tourism activities, they go to the petrol stations, supermarkets, restaurants ... It benefits the whole community,” he said.
“The council now said no to all of that.”
Meanwhile, Ōtorohanga Mayor Max Baxter said his council also reduced the funding due to the current economic climate.
“We appreciate times are tough and looked at all funding streams closely and made the decision to reduce the funding.
“[After meetings with HWT] We felt that what was being provided for that figure was not enough return on investment and we are looking at having discussions about trying something in-house.”
Otorohanga Kiwi House and Bird Park has worked for the past 50 years to protect New Zealand native wildlife, including kiwi. Photo / Marama Shearer
When asked if he was concerned about potential declining visitor numbers, Baxter said: “Time will tell. I say no, but I say no with caution, because it hasn’t been trialled yet.”
Ōtorohanga Kiwi House general manager Jo Russell didn’t want to comment on the impact on their business, but said: “Hamilton and Waikato Tourism have been a valuable resource for tourism in the region and the Kiwi House really valued having an RTO.”
Greenwell said HWT respected the councils’ decision, but they were concerned about the impacts on the visitor sector.
“I’m concerned for the operators, but the impact might not be evident immediately,” she said.
“They no longer have access to industry support ... and will now miss out on opportunities that come through being part of an RTO.
“Tourism New Zealand for example, they come to the RTOs for recommendations. Waitomo and Ōtorohanga won’t be recommended anymore.”
Greenwell said being part of an RTO - any RTO - was crucial for an operator.
“I really want those operators to have access to an RTO. It’s just not about us - [although] we’d love to have them of course - but even if they joined Visit Ruapehu or Destination Great Lake Taupō. They just need that support.”
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
