Pania's Pānui

It was wonderful to catch up with many of you in Northland this week. As well as meeting many Māori tourism experiences, our Board also took the opportunity to visit QRC Taitokerau, the halls of residence, and their new culinary school to see the fantastic work that is happening there.

As part of yesterday's Budget news, Minister Flavell announced an increase in funding for NZ Māori Tourism over the next four years. While we will continue to grow Māori tourism businesses through a range of initiatives, this funding will:

provide support to accelerate the business growth trajectory of emerging Māori tourism experiences;
support a Māori tourism programme to ensure cultural quality and authenticity;
provide support for incoming and outgoing delegations, to and from existing and emerging markets;
leverage Māori story-telling to enhance regional, and inter-regional, tourism.

This is exciting news for the sector!

Ngā mihi, na,

Pania and the team at NZ Māori Tourism

Budget 2017 Announcements

Minister for Māori Development, Hon Te Ururoa Flavell, announced new funding for Māori tourism initiatives:

More jobs in Māori tourism and regions
Māori Land Service to support land owners

The Government have announced their Tourism Infrastructure package:
Tourism Infrastructure package Q & A
Tourism Infrastructure Fund criteria, panel, and process.

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.

Te Nama o te wiki (Number of the week)

Spending by international visitors in New Zealand was $10 billion for the year ending March 2017, according to the latest International Visitor Survey released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Over the last three years, international visitor spending has grown, with the total spend up 49 per cent over the period. Spending growth was strongest in China with growth of 88 per cent over the three years, while the USA and Korea grew at 61 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.

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

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

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.

Relaunch of Wild Creations

DOC and Creative New Zealand are offering up to three artists the opportunity to get into nature through a DOC experience between November 2017 and June 2018.

Wild Creations involves artists applying to Creative New Zealand for funding to take part/observe a conservation experience and to create an art work or work based on the experience.

Successful artists will take part in one of the following types of conservation related experiences offered through the pilot programme:

experience of a place of particular significance to Māori
a community group/volunteering/immersion experience
an Iwi engagement experience
an historic icon site experience
a threatened species experience
an island experience
a coastal experience
an urban experience
a remote experience.

The individual experiences will be developed in conjunction with the artist, Creative New Zealand and the Department of Conservation once artists have been selected.

Luxury lodge investor earns iwi support

Auckland university academic Margaret Mutu has hailed a partnership between Chinese investors Shanghai Cred and far north iwi Ngati Kahu as a role model for other tourist operators in New Zealand.

Mutu who chairs the Ngati Kahu iwi board says she has been deeply impressed by the attitude of the investors who took over the Carrington Resort from American owners in 2013 and now has plans for a large scale expansion.

Operators “leaving money on the table”

Tourism operators are “leaving money on the table” if they do not join a Chinese electronic payment system to make it easier for tourists from China to spend.

Christchurch Airport, which has signed a memorandum of understanding with e-commerce giant Alibaba to promote its Alipay platform, wants operators to join the system to capture more value from Chinese visitors.

Only 13% of Chinese visitors have a credit card when they visit New Zealand. The way that they pay for things in China is through electronic payment platforms such as WePay or Alipay so if you don’t provide for that then you are leaving money on the table.

DOC Community Fund 2017 open

The fund is directed at practical, on-the-ground projects. These projects will maintain and restore the diversity of our natural heritage and enable more people to participate in recreation, enjoy and learn from our historic places, and engage with and value the benefits of conservation.

Predator control and War on Weeds are high priorities for the Government and projects that focus on these two priorities are preferred for this year’s round, although all eligible applications will be considered.

Native Affairs – Iwi Tours

Tourism has become New Zealand's biggest money earner and everyone is cashing in. Ngati Awa in the Eastern Bay of Plenty has just bought a tour operation, taking tourists to the very popular, very active volcano - White Island - Te Pūia o Whakaari. The iwi hopes the venture will benefit the tribe and help boost tourism in the region.

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.

NZ Post “You Can Grow" Helps Local Business Prepare
Starting out, scaling up or already well-established? Whatever stage you’re at, there are so many ways we can help your business grow. Find out how at this free Business Showcase. You’ll get to meet and hear from our knowledgeable experts and partners at a range of information-filled masterclasses. They cover everything from how to gain a competitive advantage with customised shipping solutions to using our online platforms to make your life easier.

You'll also learn about streamlining processes through contract logistics and warehousing, expanding your business by accessing international markets (including trading platforms like Tmall in China and Amazon in the US), and exceeding your customers’ expectations through more delivery choice. The You can Grow Business showcases are on 29 May in Auckland and Christchurch on 12 June. The
event will pack all the information businesses need to know into sessions of two hours.

Entries open for NZ Tourism Awards 2017
Entries are now open for the prestigious New Zealand Tourism Awards 2017. The awards programme celebrates individuals and organisations that are fast-tracking the industry towards its Tourism 2025 $41 billion annual revenue goal.

There are three individual awards for tourism industry leaders across the generations, eight business awards (including the He kai kei aku ringa Māori Tourism Award) and a People’s Choice award. The winners will be announced at a gala Awards Dinner in Christchurch on 7 September 2017.