Award recognises best practice by regional tourism lead team
The lead team behind the development of the Ruapehu Regional Visitor Sector Development Plan and Destination Value Proposition' are celebrating receiving a Commendation Award for Collaboration with Business, Iwi and the Community at the inaugural Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Celebrating Excellence Awards in Wellington last night.
Comprising Ruapehu District Council, Visit Ruapehu and a consortium of specialist consultants led by Henley Hutchings the team won the award for their methodology and approach that required extensive and meaningful engagement with a wide spectrum of regional stakeholders.
Ruapehu Mayor Don Cameron said that Henley Hutchings and Visit Ruapehu had delivered an amazing result for the tourism and visitor sector in the Ruapehu region.
The Award was truly well deserved and helps to highlight how we have the best people producing the best outcomes in support of our goal of sustainable regional economic growth that increases jobs, incomes and opportunities for all sectors and communities, he said.
In a timeframe of just 100 days they were able to gain the commitment of all the key stakeholders with a vested interest in the long term success of the tourism and visitor sector in the Ruapehu sub-region to the project.
This involved focusing and coordinating the active participation of central and local government, iwi and hapu, local communities, visitor sector operators and national visitor sector leaders who all lent their collective brainpower, experience, culture and history to the development of the Ruapehu Regional Visitor Sector Development Plan and Value Proposition.
This was critical to the success of the project having real value and acceptance which in addition to identifying opportunities needed to capture the authentic feel and character of Ruapehu and its sub-region.
Mayor Cameron said that we now have the cornerstone requirements for tourism and visitor services to start delivering against their end of the Accelerate25 Economic Action Plan for Manawatu-Whanganui that aims to double visitor expenditure from $181m to $388m by 2025.
With the development phase complete the focus is on how to best partner with government, iwi and hapu, visitor sector operators and others to implement the Plan and unlock the region's potential, he said.
More information on Accelerate25 and the Ruapehu Regional Visitor Sector Development Plan and Destination Value Proposition can be found on the Accelerate25 website:
http://www.accelerate25.co.nz/tourism-and-visitor-services.html
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