Pacific Coast view from The Pinnacles summit

Kia ora,

Yesterday Destination Hauraki Coromandel (DHC) connected with key national agencies and trade partners to clarify the immediate and potential long term impacts of recent weather events and to request support.

Meeting with representatives from national and regional agencies:

Scott Simpson, Minister to Parliament for Thames Coromandel
Paul Yeo, Tourism NZ
Kiri Goulter, Regional Tourism NZ
Lynda Keene, Tourism Export Council NZ
Diane Reid, Tourism Industry Association
Ruth Buckingham, Waikato Regional Council

In addition to DHC staff and Board Chair, Len Salt, Mayor of Thames-Coromandel District Council was joined by members of both Thames-Coromandel and Hauraki District Council Economic Development teams and 4 local tourism business owners to deliver an on the ground update, discuss actions to date, immediate issues, ongoing implications and to advocate strongly for national support.

Actions to date:

• A request for a regional support package has been made to Kieran McAnulty, the Emergency Management Minister.
• Pursuing roading resilience is a key focus; TCDC is pushing for the protection of vulnerable and repeat flood areas; and upgrades to The 309 and Tapu-Coroglen roads as safe alternatives.
• TCDC has been in contact with the Health Minister to make sure health services can continue (including ferry and rescue helicopter options).
• An updated regional map highlighting access on SH25 has been circulated.
• A request to Google Maps to amend suggested route has been made.

Meeting with New Zealand-based inbound trade teams

Hosted by Lynda Keene, Tourism Export Council NZ with DHC staff and key trade partners. The main purposes of this meeting were:

• To clarify the current situation to support the inbound teams who are fielding many requests from international markets for cancellations.
•  To ensure they are in turn supporting local businesses with whom they have longstanding and close relationships by sending clear and strong messages to their offshore partners that The Coromandel must remain on guests' itineraries.  The current state of emergency is necessary, but the closure of SH25a does not in itself impact visitors' ability to access the region or to experience all that we have to offer.

We were also able to reinforce the message that this is an opportunity to promote a holiday that takes in all of Hauraki Coromandel while still connecting with regional icons. We are partners across the travel trade distribution chain and we are counting on everyone to work together. Email updates to the travel trade will continue.

What happens next:

• DHC is readying marketing campaign collateral and has secured national media support for strong messaging that The Coromandel is open for business. 
• DHC will seek additional marketing support.
• Scott Simpson urges everyone to attend planned community meetings with officials on 17 February for an update on our roading status. More details @Scott Simpson MP
• The suggestion was made to undertake a survey to measure the extent of job losses in the industry to support advocacy for more regional resources.
   

Ngā mihi nui

The team at Destination Hauraki Coromandel