CongratulationsNgāi Tahu-owned Shotover Jet celebrates its 50th birthday this week. Watch here.
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Can a Trip Ever Be ‘Authentic’?This increasingly fevered quest for the authentic can in truth be a mug’s game, if only because the visitor’s ‘‘reality’’ is sometimes a local’s canny business plan. That dance in Ubud that’s so hauntingly indigenous might well have been created for (and even by) the tourist market. Those red-robed monks practicing ritual debating — on the nature of reality, no less — at the Drepung monastery in Lhasa are in fact doing so at the behest
of their rulers in faraway Beijing, happy to encourage old customs so long as those will bring in dollars. You may encounter a craftsman patiently stitching gold tilla embroidery into an elegant shawl on the back streets of Srinagar, but there’s no less ancient craft involved in his brother down the street beckoning you toward his shop selling ‘‘authentic fake Rolexes.’’
For nearly every traveler, in any case, the prize souvenir from any trip will be the memory of an encounter with (let’s say) a Chinese guide armed with a story not so easily found in Chinatown back home. Very often that story will involve a highly unglamorous childhood in a village, a ‘‘real China’’ that might be the product of manufactured nostalgia and now has become the chance, through a visitor, to draw a little closer to Stanford. Read more here.
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Running your business or activity on DOC landIf you want to use public conservation land to run a business or activity you must get permission from DOC in the form of a concession. Read more and apply here.
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Te Ao Māori in TaupōTaupō has been a town that I have driven through many a time, but never actually stopped to spend much time in. After this weekend, all I can say to that is more fool me. Taupō absolutely turned it on for 48 hours
for us as NZ Māori Tourism and Destination Great Lake Taupō worked together to host the annual Travcom famil for travel journalists and photographers. Read more here.
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Mobile future for NZ businessFacebook's chief creative officer, New Zealander Mark D'Arcy, says businesses here should be mobile-first, and New Zealand should lead the world in making a mobile-first business environment. Mark D'Arcy said that the personalised feeds created for each Facebook user, based on complex algorithms, made it an even playing field for every company. "There is no Facebook, there are many Facebooks," he said. "We see the things that matter to us." Read more here.
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Northland hospitality boom set to riseNorthland's hospitality sector is poised to make hay big time until about mid next year as a number of high-profile events and a forecast dry summer help boost tourism numbers. Hotels, particularly budget accommodation providers, are already accepting bookings for January onwards and the pre-season NRL fixture between the Warriors and Titans in Whangarei on
February 13, 2016, is attracting strong interest. Read more here.
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Airbnb, social media and the quest for the authentic urban experienceOur experiences are heightened when we travel. Removed from our day-to-day rituals and familiar terrain, even the most pedestrian things - street signs, passersby, sidewalk cafes - can become fascinating. But in the age of Google Street View and the relentless posting of holiday snaps on Instagram and Facebook, experiencing
unfamiliarity has become harder. Social media is reconfiguring our experience of the city, and tapping into our increasing appetite for unique and authentic urban experiences. Read more here.
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'Not Alone' (from the album RIMA) written by Moana Maniapoto, Paddy Free and Scotty Morrison is dedicated to Hec, Nainoa, Hotu, Jack and all our naviagators who are so inspirational. RIMA is a finalist at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards, November 19 for Best Roots and Best Māori Album. Watch the video here.
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