Capital on trail of ‘wild’ tourism boost
Queenstown, Rotorua, Nelson, be warned – a new kid is stepping into the muddy tourism game.
A just-released plan will see roughly 200 trails across the Wellington region – from Ka¯piti to central Wellington, to Wairarapa and Hutt Valley – mapped, signposted, developed, and advertised with Department of Conservation grades for difficulty.
There are also plans for toilets for trail users, water-filling stations and new bike storage, as well as spin-off businesses like shuttle buses between and to the top of tracks, bike repair and hire shops, as well as accommodation willing and able to take in muddy trail users.
Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda) hopes the three to fiveyear overhaul will bring an influx of tourists and get locals out on the capital’s trails – be it mountain-biking, running, walking, or horseback riding.
‘‘People will be jumping on planes from Australia to come here ... we want this to be an unmissable trail stop,’’ said Wreda’s regional trails framework adviser and keen mountainbiker, Leasa Carlyon.
The project – dubbed Find Your Wild – is a collaboration between the region’s nine councils, the Department of Conservation and Wreda.
Wreda chief executive and keen trail-runner Lance Walker said the project would make the region an ‘‘unmissable stop for trails experiences’’.
But according to recent economic impact studies, mountainbiking injected $25 million into Queenstown’s economy and created 297 direct jobs in a year, while it was worth around $17.1m a year and growing in Nelson and Tasman. That was in addition to the millions spent on tramping in the top of the South.
Bikers in Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa forest were estimated to spend $30m to $50m in the local economy each year.
Walker said Wellington currently had little tourism just for trails outside of the Remutaka Cycle Trail but hoped the Find Your Wild scheme would put the region on par with those places.
As well as hopefully bringing more tourists to Wellington, the project would ideally mean people spending more time in the capital, he said.
Porirua’s proposed $32m adventure park – pegged to pump about $9.6m a year into the economy and employ about 171 people – would be part of the scheme.
Previously called a ‘‘gamechanger’’ by Porirua Mayor Mike Tana, the proposed park would add to the number of existing mountainbike trails. It would feature a $12m gondola, zip-line, hiking trails, a surf pool, and cafes at the base and top gondola stations.
‘‘People will be jumping on planes from Australia to come here . . . we want this to be an unmissable trail stop.’’ Wreda adviser Leasa Carlyon