Ruapehu benefiting from tourism growth

Ruapehu well placed to benefit from tourism growth

Local tourism operators had the benefit of hearing first hand from Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) Chief Executive Chris Roberts on the positive performance of NZ tourism at a special breakfast presentation in Ohakune this week.

TIA which is an independent national tourism association was in Ruapehu at the invitation of Ruapehu's Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) Visit Ruapehu.

Around 40 local tourism operators were joined by Ruapehu District Council (RDC) elected members and senior management to hear about the strong growth in international and domestic tourism spending which is up by 12% to $34.7 billion.

Mr. Roberts said that he was really pleased to have had the opportunity to bring the TIA team to the Ruapehu region for a few days, where they were able to combine business planning for the coming year with the opportunity to visit TIA members in the region and get first-hand experience of their businesses.

The region has a lot to offer visitors, said Mr. Roberts

Visit Ruapehu has conducted some excellent research and now has some exciting plans to grow tourism and ensure the region grabs a bigger share of the economic benefits of New Zealand's tourism boom.

Visit Ruapehu Chief Executive Claire McKnight said that although Ruapehu was enjoying the benefits of this strong growth 65% of tourism spending was still taking place in the traditional tourism hot spots of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Ruapehu is extremely well-placed to benefit from the growth in both international and domestic expenditure, said Mrs. McKnight.

Visit Ruapehu in conjunction with RDC have recently undertaken comprehensive research through global firm TNS uncovering key insights into why people come here and why they don't, she said.

The research found that when it is explained to visitors the experiences Ruapehu offers that their consideration of holidaying here goes up considerably.

The research is allowing Visit Ruapehu to be far more targeted in the stories we are telling, and to whom, said Mrs. McKnight.

By aligning our strategy with the national vision for Tourism 2025 and beyond we are able to work in parallel with both TIA and Tourism NZ.

Combined with the Accelerate25 Regional Action plan opportunities Ruapehu tourism's future is looking very exciting.

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