Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Ian McKelvie: Tourism has to be world-class

By Ian McKelvie, MP for Rangitikei
Whanganui Chronicle·
28 Feb, 2017 04:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Ian McKelvie

Ian McKelvie

LAST weekend's 2017 Air Tattoo at Ohakea Air Force Base was both a spectacular event and an outstanding success.

The RNZAF and a number of international militaries put on amazing air and ground displays, while the Black Falcons aerobatics team performed publicly for the first time and wowed the crowds.

Australia, the United States, Singapore, Japan and Canada were all represented, the US's two F-16 Fighting Falcons putting on a brilliant display.

The event was notable for its exceptional traffic management. Thousands of people came to Sanson to experience the impressive depth and capability of New Zealand's own defence force, while at the same time enjoying some of the best of what our allies have to offer.

It was an amazing event and many of those in attendance had travelled from throughout the lower North Island -- and, indeed, from across New Zealand -- to be there.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It's great that tourism spending in Whanganui and Manawatu is continuing to rise and our region is certainly benefiting from the increase in visitor numbers and tourist dollars. We have seen an increase in spending for the year to January 2017 of 8 per cent in the region, which equates to a total of $931 million.

Domestic and international tourism bring welcome employment opportunities and economic prosperity. It's also a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our region.

We are becoming a more and more highly desirable location to visit. There are so many attractions and activities to discover and enjoy here. We're also very good at organising and hosting annual and special one-off events like Whanganui's Artists' Open Studios, the Turakina Highland Games and rural sports days, to name just a few. I am delighted that the Rangitikei and Whanganui have such variety and diversity.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Tourism has always been an important part of our regional economy -- and it's been identified as a key growth area in the Accelerate25 regional growth plan. It's fantastic to see this level of growth. It shows we have a solid base to build on.

There were 3.2 million visitors to New Zealand last year. That number is projected to grow to more than 4.5 million by 2022. Across New Zealand, tourists spent more than $26 billion in the year to January.

We are very pleased with these numbers. We are also conscious of a need to shift our focus towards growing tourism outside of the summer peak, as well as working to attract more tourists into regional New Zealand.

Domestic and international tourism creates immense value for working New Zealanders, with tourism employing over 180,000 people in 2016. Communities around New Zealand continue to benefit from increasing tourism and higher spending. This is great news for New Zealand and for New Zealanders.

As international visitor spending is booming, it is vital we continue to invest in order to sustain and support this growth. For example, the Government is investing in infrastructure across the board to support visitors, including the ultra-fast broadband programme. At the same time, through the 2015-2018 National Land Transport Programme, total government investment in improving Manawatu-Whanganui roads is forecast to be $444 million.

As a country we offer a world-class experience for our visitors -- and it's clear that more people are choosing to come here to experience a taste of the real New Zealand.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui weather: Cold snap gives way to milder week

09 Jun 11:02 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

New zone to simplify Manawatū-Whanganui tsunami evacuation

09 Jun 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Strong second half powers Taihape to win

09 Jun 05:00 PM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui weather: Cold snap gives way to milder week

Whanganui weather: Cold snap gives way to milder week

09 Jun 11:02 PM

Whanganui hill country had temperatures drop to -3C overnight on Monday.

New zone to simplify Manawatū-Whanganui tsunami evacuation

New zone to simplify Manawatū-Whanganui tsunami evacuation

09 Jun 06:00 PM
Strong second half powers Taihape to win

Strong second half powers Taihape to win

09 Jun 05:00 PM
'Really shook me': Council calls out abuse from public

'Really shook me': Council calls out abuse from public

09 Jun 05:00 PM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP