Review planned for criticised tourism unit
A KEY figure in Dunedin’s tourism industry has blasted the performance of Enterprise Dunedin, saying it has been an ‘‘unmitigated disaster’’ and change is needed.
But the Dunedin City Council says it is already planning an independent review of its inhouse economic development and tourism unit, which could open the door to the creation of a new external agency.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull told yesterday’s 10year plan hearing the council was about to begin reviewing the ‘‘framework around Enterprise Dunedin’’ and the city’s attractions.
The move came as Larnach Castle director Norcombe Barker, addressing the hearing yesterday, took aim at the council’s decision to replace Tourism Dunedin with its own inhouse body in 2014.
The change had heralded a dramatic dropoff in the performance of the city’s tourism sector, highlighted by domestic and international visitor spending data, he said.
He showed councillors two graphs from the New Zealand Tourism Dashboard, comparing the total domestic and international visitor spend across New Zealand with that in Dunedin.
Both graphs showed a divergence from 2014 to 2016, follow ing the creation of Enterprise Dunedin, as national spending surged ahead of that in Dunedin, Mr Barker said.
The gap between the lines represented ‘‘tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars’’ in lost revenue for the city and its businesses, he said.
‘‘Enterprise Dunedin has been an unmitigated disaster for tourism in Dunedin.’’
Mr Barker told councillors he had attempted to raise concerns in the past, including when he tried to arrange a briefing for councillors as the chairman of Dunedin Host.
He arranged for Tourism Industry Association chief executive Chris Roberts to attend, but was blocked from attending himself, by Enterprise Dunedin, a week before the meeting.
A review of Enterprise Dunedin planned for 2015 had not happened, nor had a promised tourism advisory board been created, he said.
To progress, the city needed to stop ‘‘selling itself as a cheap destination’’ by advertising ‘‘free products’’ like Baldwin St, embrace the tourism strategy 2025 Dunedin Tourism, and ‘‘take tourism out of council’’, he said.
If it did not change, the city would be poorly positioned when the inevitable downturn in the ‘‘cyclical’’ tourism industry came, he warned.
‘‘I beg you to take these steps. People’s businesses and jobs rely on it.
‘‘It is a very vulnerable position to be in.’’
Council chief executive Sue Bidrose said the council would call for tenders next week from independent parties interested in carrying out the review.
The work would be ‘‘the review we said we would do — it’s just late’’, she said.
However, she also took issue with some of Mr Barker’s comments, saying Tourism Dunedin had also been the subject of complaints before its functions were moved inhouse.
Cr Christine Garey also took issue with Mr Barker’s figures, saying there had been significant growth in spending by domestic tourists (up 137%) and international visitors (up 52%) from 2014 to 2018.
Mr Barker remained concerned figures for the past year, showing 2% total growth in tourist spending for Enterprise Dunedin’s patch, still put Dunedin near the foot of the ladder.
If that trend continued, Dunedin would slip down other rankings over time, he said.
Cr Garey asked for councillors to be briefed on the latest tourism statistics before the council began deliberations on its 10year plan.
Enterprise Dunedin director John Christie declined to comment after yesterday’s hearing.
THE Dunedin City Council will consider designating High St as a cable car route to support the push to return heritage transport to the city.
The indication came from Mayor Dave Cull following a submission by Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust spokesman Neville Jemmett at yesterday’s council 10year plan hearing.
Mr Jemmett told the hearing the trust wanted ‘‘public acknowledgement’’ from the council that High St could be used as a cable car route, if the project came to fruition, to help with its wider fundraising efforts.
He also wanted the council to consider allowing heritage transport operators to seek financial support from the city’s heritage fund.
Work had already begun on a $70,000 building in Mornington to house and display leased cable cars, but the trust eventually planned to replace it with a larger structure costing up to $5 million.
The next step would be to purchase tracks to run cable cars down High St, but there would be no point progressing beyond the first stage if High St could not be used, he said.
But that could be just the start, as the trust was also open to the idea of expanding the network to include cable cars running to other destinations, as well as trams along Princes and George Sts, he said.
Responding to a question from deputy mayor Chris Staynes, Mr Jemmett said the trust had already approached Regional Development Minister Shane Jones’ office about the project, although it was still early days on that front.
Cr David BensonPope also encouraged Mr Jemmett to apply to the heritage fund, saying he could see no barrier to that.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said the idea of a designation over High St would be considered, and its implications for the wider public transport network discussed with the Otago Regional Council.