Busy times in Hauraki Coromandel
This time last week saw the local tourism industry come together for the Mautohe Cathedral Cove planting day, a sector update at Grand Mercure Puka Park and the announcement of the Auckland - Coromandel Ferry.
Auckland - Coromandel Ferry
The Auckland - Coromandel Ferry is back!
The ferry schedule supports growing tourism - visitors that stay longer, do more, tell others and come back. What's more the scenic cruise will allow additional promotion of the region and all we have to offer to our biggest market, plus international travellers keen on a stress free packaged tour.
Thames-Coromandel District Council’s Economic Development team, led by Mitch King, have been working closely with the Coromandel & Colville Business association to welcome the ferry service into the coming season. Destination Hauraki Coromandel (DHC) Board Chair, Jason Hill and past trustee Graeme Osborne assisted via their tourism networks in Auckland.
The service is an ideal opportunity for Coromandel locals to commute or spend some time in the city too - kicking off on Friday 24 October. View timetable and more information here.
Annual General Meeting, Board Meeting and Tourism Sector Update
Last Friday DHC held a board meeting, followed by an Annual General Meeting, at Puka Park in Pāuanui. The annual report was received and is available here. Jason Hill and Ella Zhang will continue as the Board Chair and Deputy.
Hadley Dryden welcomed the tourism industry to the sector update and gave an overview on the cyber incident highlighting 3 key recommendations:
- Check the performance of your domain registrar with assessement tools such as Trust Pilot
- If you’re using a ‘dot com’ url, consider using one with ‘nz’ at the end (e.g. .nz, .co.nz)
- Consider using a local New Zealand domain host. DHC will have more info coming soon...
DHC have filed cases with WIPO and ICANN. While legal proceedings are underway we cannot release further details. However if you have any concerns or queries about your own domain please do not hesitate to reach out to Megan.
Hadley also touched on GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL – Kaitiaki progress that delivers destination management & marketing outcomes in one action (further detail below). Each guest speaker was acknowledged with the planting of an eco sourced native tree donated to a visitor planting site.
Michelle Caldwell, Destinate NZ
A thorough ‘Tourism 101’ update that impressed the fundamentals of marketing in a dynamic world:
- Be consistent across your marketing channels – if you’re not marketing are you even open?
- Don’t assume people know about you – continue to build awareness by filling up the ‘marketing funnel'
Kristin Dunne, DHC Trustee
A leading tourism professional and Director of Destination Strategy with Miles Partnerships, Kristin highlighted challenges in the global environment and why it pays to stay in the know with travel trends:
- While travel from North America to New Zealand is growing, the economic situation in and between Canada and America is far from stable.
- Despite economic challenges key themes like sustainable travel continue to grow year on year.
Jason Hill, DHC Board Chair
With 25 years of governance and senior management experience here and offshore Jason has a passion for change. The critical issue for the New Zealand tourism system is a sustainable funding model to address demand and supply:
- Our low rate payer-base presents challenges when managing the Hauraki Coromandel experience, hence the importance of key partners staying connected.
- With a comparatively small marketing budget, it is important that businesses work together and not in competition.
Jo Malcolm, Trustee
Inspired by the potential and opportunity of Hauraki Coromandel, Jo facilitated a panel (see below) of emerging and experienced local industry talent.
John Rich, Kiwi Dundee
John gave an overview of his business, one of Hauraki Coromandel’s longest operating tours. He noted a key challenge going forward is the decrease in Guest and Hosted accommodation that work with the international travel trade sector.
Paul Schneider, Coromandel Distilling Co.
A globally awarded product distilled in Grahamstown Thames. Paul championed the need for strategic investment in Thames that reveals what locals already know about the appeal lying in wait.
Chelsea Ralls, Pūkorokoro Guided Tour
The Shorebird Centre and Tours had their busiest summer just gone. Chelsea acknowledged the benefit of being on the Hauraki Rail Trail, referrals from the holiday park and working into the tourism marketing system with DHC.
Image below: Pūkorokoro Shorebird Planting Day
Mautohe Cathedral Cove
The Shorebird Coast and Backdrop Trust have also had their GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL - Kaitiaki planting days. Mautohe Cathedral Cove had the most trees donationed for Season One. Last Thursday we joined DOC, Ngāti Hei, the team from Pare Hauraki Nursery, local tourism operators and a few holiday home owners for an epic day of planting at Mautohe Cathedral Cove as part of GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL – Kaitiaki.
You can check out how many of each species were planted and awesome pictures of the day. Thanks to the tourism businesses who are already supporting and promoting the initiative. As the kaitiaki initiative grows so will people's connection to Hauraki Coromandel and GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL.
Join this regenerative tourism initiative by contributing 12 trees to your selected visitor planting site and grow from there - actionable commitment that supports Tiaki, Tourism Sustainability Commitment, Qualmark and other tourism accreditation initiatives!
Some businesses have added donations to their booking systems and also started matching guest donations for off-season promotions, building GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL - Kaitiaki into the tourism system.
For one-off donations visitors and locals can donate here.
Hahei Explorer a Finalist in NZ Tourism Awards
A big congratulations to Hahei Explorer, named a finalist in the Tourism Excellence Award (Micro Business) at the 2025 New Zealand Tourism Awards. This is an awesome recognition for one of our Hauraki Coromandel operators on the national stage. The Excellence awards celebrate businesses demonstrating strong industry alignment, and a commitment to living the Tourism Sustainability Commitment values.
Ngā mihi
