Pania's Pānui

There's a lot of information in this week's NewsLine, so I'm going to keep my kōrero short. Just a quick note to say if there's anything you'd like to see in future editions of NewsLine to please let Amy know, but in the meantime keep sending us your news and updates as we love seeing what you're up to and the awesome mahi you're doing!

Ngā mihi, na,

Pania and the team at NZ Māori Tourism

PS - Is your Māori tourism experience listed on our website? If not, reply to this email and we'll get your business listed straight away.

Kei te mōhio rānei koe? (Did you know?)

Tourism Minister Paula Bennett has announced the panel for the new $100 million Tourism Infrastructure Fund to help local communities respond to increased visitor numbers.

The panel will be responsible for assessing proposals and recommending a package of infrastructure projects that best aligns with the Government’s priorities for the fund, Mrs Bennett says.

The panel members, appointed for a four year term, are:

Judy Kirk (chair), consultant and experienced director
Norm Thompson (deputy chair), Deputy Chair of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development
Kauahi Ngapora, General Manager of Whale Watch Kaikoura
Chris Roberts, Chief Executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa
Sarah Hannan, Programme Director for the Southland Regional Development Strategy
Iain Cossar, General Manager Tourism, Sectors, Regions and Cities at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Bruce Parkes, Deputy Director-General Science and Policy at the Department of Conservation.

The first round of funding will open later this year. A priorities statement will be issued at that time, which will guide the panel’s decisions.

Te nama o te wiki (Number of the week)

The latest Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates released by MBIE this week show that tourism expenditure grew in all regions over the year to May 2017.

The fastest growing region was West Coast, which increased 14 per cent over the year to May 2017 to $528 million, followed by Tasman (up 11 per cent to $307 million) and Northland (up 10 per cent to $1.1 billion).

United States visitor spending again continued its strong upward trend, up 25 per cent over the year to May 2017.

The 2018 WINTA Summit will be held in association with NZ Māori Tourism. The Summit will be held in Paihia, Northland, from 15 - 18 April 2018. Save the dates in your calendar now! More details will be released soon.

Below are a selection of recent Instagram posts from around Aoteaora New Zealand using the hashtag #kiaora - we encourage manuhiri (visitors) to use #kiaora to showcase their experience with Māori tourism.

Do you have employees?

At payroll time, there are some payments you must deduct from your employees' wages or salary, like PAYE. There may also be voluntary payments your employees ask you to make on their behalf. Find out more here.

Supporting the development of the Māori and Pasifika service sector workforce

Māori and Pasifika make a significant contribution to the service sector workforce, and ServiceIQ is committed to encouraging and celebrating their success. Within the service sector, our Māori Action Plan focuses on:

strengthening the pipeline of Māori moving into jobs in the service sector
supporting and developing Māori learners in the service sector
celebrating Māori success in the service sector.

Keeping your small business safe online

More than half of New Zealand businesses experience security attacks at least once a year. But many feel they don’t have the right tools and policies to protect themselves.

Help is at hand. Here are tips and resources recommended by a panel of experts to protect your business from scams and hack attacks.

Moana: Te reo version of Disney film finds its Māori star

A newsreader and a high school student have picked up main roles in the Maori Moana.

Recording starts this week for the revoiced film, with the Disney fairytale being completely remade in te reo and Hawaiian.

Taika Waititi, who wrote the original Moana script, and his whangai sister Tweedie Waititi had partnered with Disney to dub the blockbuster film.

Use this tool to quickly find opportunities, training, compliance dates and related tasks from across government. You can search by region, date, and category.

Westpac Business Growth Grants

The Westpac Business Growth Grants is part of a push to help upcoming Kiwi businesses reach their potential.

If you have ideas and a clear plan to grow your business, then Westpac want to help. It doesn’t matter where you are based, which sector or industry you’re in, or even if you’re a Westpac customer.

Here are the prizes on offer:

6 finalist businesses will attend the Nurture Change Business Retreat in Fiji - to take time out to focus on working on their business with a range of experts and business leaders including Sir Graham Henry, Kathryn Wilson and Sir John Kirwan.
6 finalist businesses will receive expert business mentoring including legal, HR and accounting advice^
The overall winner will also receive a Growth Grant valued at $50,000 (including $40,000 cash and $10,000 free advertising).

Māori Economy Investor Guide

Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges has launched a new guide for potential investors highlighting opportunities in the Māori economy.

“The Māori Economy Investor Guide will help investors understand the Māori economy, culture and people. It offers insights as to how and where potential investors can engage with Māori enterprises, embrace the distinctive global advantages of the Māori economy, and forge strong partnerships for the future.”

Produced by KPMG, the Māori Economy Investor Guide was funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment as part of their commitment to He kai kei aku ringa – the Crown-Māori Economic Growth Partnership.

TIA's Discussing Tourism events

These one-day events provide an important forum for you to discuss the issues, challenges and opportunities facing tourism businesses.

Discussing Tourism events will be in:

Rotorua, 26 July
Auckland, 27 July
Dunedin, 2 August
Christchurch, 3 August

See more details and register here.

The latest edition of Māori Tourism Quarterly can be read here.

Nga Pānui (Notices)

If you have an announcement you'd like here, please email amy@maoritourism.co.nz for it to be included in the next edition of Newsline. It can be anything from a job position, exhibition opening, videos or photos featuring your business, new Māori tourism products, etc.

Tā moko at Toi Maori office
Toi Māori Aotearoa have 3 highly regarded Tā moko artists, Henare Brooking, Hohua Mohi and Kingi Pitiroi working in the Toi Māori office (Level One, Korea House, 29 Tory Street, Wellington) from the 26th June – 2nd July 2017 from 9am-5pm daily. If you would like some Tā moko work done, please contact Henare Brooking on (+64)220665648 or email brookingarts@gmail.com.

Senior Advisor, Maori Participation Role Open
Sport New Zealand is the agency responsible for leading the development of a world-leading sports system, from grass roots through to high performance. Their aim is to have more Kiwis involved in sport and active recreation, and more Kiwi winners on the world stage. They are searching for an experienced leader to engage and grow Māori participation in sport and active recreation.