Industry seeks more overseas travellers

An overwhelming majority of visitors to Manawatu-whanganui are New Zealanders, but there are plans to attract more international tourists.

Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment figures show visitors spent $909 million in Manawatu-whanganui in the year to September.

Kiwi visitors accounted for 82.4 per cent of the spending, a higher proportion than anywhere else in the country.

Only Taranaki comes close, with Kiwi travellers bringing in 78.2 per cent of the annual tourism spend. The next highest rate, in Northland, was almost 10 percentage points lower at 75 per cent.

Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith said Manawatu-whanganui had a healthy and developing tourism industry, and the sector was a key focus in the Accelerate25 regional growth action plan.

The Accelerate25 plan identified high international interest in the Tongariro and Whanganui national parks, particularly for adventure tourism.

It recommends expanding adventure and nature activities, such as biking, canoeing and rafting, in the parks and across the region to make the most of this interest.

Smith said mountainbiking, in particular, had a lot of potential for Palmerston North.

The 17-kilometre Arapuke Forest Mountain Bike Park, by Linton, has been expanding in the past three years, and is expected to reach 25km once development is done.

And Smith said the Palmerston North City Council was helping to make a business case to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for backing the extension of the 3.6km Te Apiti Gorge bike track.

The Manawatu Mountain Biking Club plan for the final track is to run 25km from Ashhurst to Woodville.

‘‘With help that could become a real icon for us, and also fit into the [national mountainbike] network,’’ Smith said.

Palmerston North-based tourism operator Nats Subramanian bucked the regional trend by focusing on international tourism.

He co-founded Takeme2theworld with his wife, Uma Natarajan, in 2013, quitting high-paying jobs in IT, and they’ve been arranging personalised tours of New Zealand, and for Kiwis heading overseas.

International tourists have largely skipped past Manawatu, but that had slowly been changing in the past 21⁄2 years, Subramanian said.

"Usually, people travel [straight] from Taupo to Wellington. We’ve been encouraging them to stop overnight in Palmerston North, or to come out on day tours."

In Subramanian’s experience, French students, German backpackers and Australians were increasingly likely to put Manawatu on their itinerary.

Ex-black Cap Jacob Oram’s New Zealand Cricket Centre was one example of a unique Palmerston North attraction that had the potential to bring international visitors for longer stays.

‘‘It’s the only real-grass indoor training facility in the world. [And] we work with Jacob Oram to bring in school groups and cricket academies from India to train with him there,’’ Subramanian said.

Te Manawa chief executive Andy Lowe said most Te Manawa visitors from outside Manawatu came up from Wellington, with visitors from Napier and Hawke’s Bay a close second.

Lowe said Te Manawa aimed to repeat the recent success of hosting two big exhibitions, Frida Kahlo and Dinosaur Encounter.