Tourism merger excites Aoraki Development boss
Aoraki Development’s boss is excited to have the responsibility for tourism promotion of the Timaru District back under the organisation’s control, and says the focus now is on attracting more international visitors.
Aoraki Development chief executive Nigel Davenport said he was aware council was considering its options for its tourism operations and was ‘‘excited’’ about the decision. ‘‘We welcome and are excited with the opportunity to fully align our district’s visitor and economic development strategies and, having ready access to the right people to do this, are keen to get started.’’
Earlier this week, Timaru District councillors voted to move tourism operations back under the wing of Aoraki Development.
The move comes just 15 months after the then-council voted to create Aoraki Tourism and bring the operation in-house. In November 2018, councillors voted to shift the management of tourism promotions away from
Experience Mid-Canterbury, which held the contract. Aoraki Tourism was formalised in July last year.
Aoraki Development has previously managed tourism promotions for the district under the brand of Aoraki Development Business and Tourism (ADBT) from 2010 to 2015.
‘‘A key to any visitor attraction is having a proposition that plays to your strengths and you don’t try to be what you think others want you to be,’’ Davenport said.
‘‘With so much going for us here, an initial focus will be to refine our offerings across domestic and international visitors.
Davenport said one of the biggest challenges would be to increase the district’s share of international tourism by first attracting more to the district and then getting them to stay longer.
‘‘Currently a large number pass through Geraldine en route to Mt Cook and beyond,’’ he said.
Go Geraldine promotions coordinator Janene Adams said the organisation had a good working relationship with Aoraki Tourism, but moving the role of tourism back into Aoraki Development would be ‘‘positive’’.
‘‘There will be real synergies between tourism and economic development.’’
Davenport said they were now in discussions with the council regarding the transition steps, but considered this would be ‘‘a quick and seamless process’’.
Timaru district mayor Nigel Bowen expected the handover to be finalised just before the end of the financial year in June.