Pania's Pānui

Thanks to all those who came to our AGM held in Wellington recently. The 2017 Annual Report was presented, for those who were unable to make it, you can read it here. If you require a hard copy, please email Lee or call +64 4 474 4682.

Last week NZ Māori Tourism hosted CNTA Vice Chairman Li Shihong in Wellington, where a partnership was announced between NZ Māori Tourism, China Travel Services, and the China Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand in preparation for the China New Zealand Year of Tourism in 2019. A selection of photos are below - Wellington put on a brilliant day for us!

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.

Te nama o te wiki (Number of the week)

Spending by international visitors in New Zealand was a record $10.4 billion for the year to September 2017, according to the latest International Visitor Survey released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

Australian visitors remain the largest international market for spending in New Zealand, spending $2.6 billion over the year to September 2017. The next largest market was Chinese visitors who spent $1.4 billion.

While international visitor numbers continue to climb (up nine per cent over the year to September 2017), overall expenditure growth has been moderated by the strong New Zealand dollar, which has affected the amount visitors spend on average.

MBIE has predicted that visitor numbers and spend should see a steady growth over the next few years, growing by 47 per cent by 2023 to $15.3 billion.

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.

Iwi/Māori Direct Investment Fund receives indicative commitments of up to $100m

Indicative commitments of up to $100 million have been made by iwi, pan-tribal organisations, Māori land trusts and Māori incorporations to a proposed Iwi/Māori Direct Investment Fund.

The Fund, which will help the Māori groups further diversify their portfolios and access larger scale direct investment opportunities than they can achieve on an individual basis, will see the groups pooling capital for collective investments. Iwi and Māori groups have an increasing economic base, with potential to grow land, capability and capital.

Over 35 Māori groups have made indicative commitments to the Fund and are now working together to finalise legal documentation and internal governance approvals.

NZ firms could learn from Māori business approach

Kaitiakitanga is central to Māori organisations business practices, the latest corporate responsibility report by KPMG has found.

Māori organisations were included in KPMG's The Road Ahead Survey of Corporate Responsibility Report for the first time.

The survey found four of the top 10 highest revenue earning Māori organisations in New Zealand engaged with corporate responsbility reporting, with Katiakitanga being a key practice of Māori companies.

China's terracotta armies to be displayed at Te Papa next year

Te Papa will host an exhibition of China's ancient terracotta warriors next year.

The national museum in Wellington is teeing up an exhibition of the 2300-year-old treasures from the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to open in December 2018.

The museum was planning to make it an immersive exhibition, and aims to develop film or augmented reality experiences.

Te Papa would also host an exhibition of contemporary Chinese art, and wanted to create Chinese cultural events linked to the exhibition and the Chinese New Zealand Year of Tourism in 2019.

Ngāi Tahu’s $25m hot pools development notified

Ngāi Tahu Tourism’s proposed hot pool and day spa development in Queenstown has taken another step closer to becoming a reality after the council opened public consultation on the scheme.

The development, which Ngāi Tahu Tourism said in its initial 2013 proposal would cost $25m, is to be built part of the new Lakeview recreation reserve, a former camping site.

Queenstown Lake District Council chief executive Mike Theelen said the proposal would allow Ngāi Tahu Tourism to lease 0.8 ha of the recreation reserve to develop and operate a high quality, premium hot pool and day spa facility.

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

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.