Father and daughter team: Denise Awhimate and Awhi Awhimate of Ngāti Mākino stand proudly in front of their wharenui at Ōtamarākau marae. Photo / Tamara Poi-Ngawhika
Father and daughter team: Denise Awhimate and Awhi Awhimate of Ngāti Mākino stand proudly in front of their wharenui at Ōtamarākau marae. Photo / Tamara Poi-Ngawhika
A tiny Bay of Plenty marae is tapping into the multimillion-dollar tourism industry by offering cruise ship visitors an “authentic” cultural experience.
Tourism venture, Kiwifruit Country Tours, run by former All Black Graeme Crossman, has partnered with Ōtamarākau marae father-daughter duo Denise and Awhi Awhimate of Ngāti Mākino.
Crossman has worked with the iwi to develop a marae experience for cruise ship passengers - capturing some of the market docking at Tauranga’s port.
Ōtamarākau opened its doors to tourists for the first time last weekend. They expect 14 more visits over the season.
“Ōtamarākau marae ticks every box and for this coast and that port, we couldn’t find anything better than having people come here,” Crossman said.
Graeme Crossman at Ōtamarākau marae. Photo / Tamara Poi-Ngawhika
He said in dealing with cruise liners, tour operators need to be reliable to ensure customer satisfaction. The cost of dissatisfaction was “enormous”, so there was a lot of trust when going into business, he said.
Crossman said he went into this partnership knowing the trust was there with Ngāti Mākino.
“Ngāti Mākino, the little tribe that could. It’s not Rotorua, it’s not Te Puia, it’s not Whakarewarewa - it’s the little marae that could.
“Everyone’s here, from kaumātua to mokopuna, you couldn’t hope for more.
“I hope the passengers leave and say, ‘that’s real’.”
The first passengers of Winstar cruises are welcomed on to Ōtamarākau marae. Photo / Tamara Poi-Ngawhika
Denise Awhimate said this was a whānau effort and she was excited to share their way of life with tourists who were eager to learn about Māori culture.
Awhimate was raised in Ōtamarākau as the fourth generation of the pā. She said her whānau took on the responsibility of being haukāinga (people of the marae) when her koro passed away.
“For me, it’s about bringing life back to our pā, otherwise it sits empty for a lot of the year.
“When we have people here, it feels more alive.”
Awhimate said the prospect of employment for her whānau was a great incentive to keep rangatahi (youth) home on the pā.
“I wanted my kiddies to have the same upbringing I had on the marae. Mum worked in the kitchen, so did my Nanny before her. With our kids by our sides, they will build the same passion for the marae.
“We’re getting everything ready for them to take the mantle.”
Awhimate said they would be offering something different than other Māori tourism ventures.
“The difference between what we’re offering and what Rotorua does - they’re polished.
“They’ve got kapa haka performances, they’ve got hangi in their geysers, they’ve got waka ama up the rivers but that’s not who we are as modern Māori on the coast.
“While we appreciate they’re promoting traditional Māori values, we’re promoting what we’ve got now and where we came from.
“That’s the big difference between us - we are authentic, now. What you see when you arrive is how we are on the marae on any given day.
“We’re about whānau. We’re about treating all of our people who come, as whānau. And just making everyone feel welcome.”
Awhi Awhimate said while this is the first time Ngāti Mākino has done something like this, they must strike a balance to ensure their new tourism venture does not impact negatively on their iwi and that the marae is still for whānau.
“It’s a positive in so many ways. But if it does kick off, when do our whānau come?
“Because it’s a living marae. It’s not made for tourism.
“We’ve got to make sure we don’t cut our own whānau out,” he said.
Kuba Rudolff, destination manager of Windstar Cruises’ Starbreeze ship said they have cruised to many places around the world but their first visit to Aotearoa was spent at the small pā settlement at Ōtamarākau.
“This is amazing, it’s the very first time and we’re super happy to be here.”
Rudolff said they had just come from Australia, before touring the South Island, Wellington, Tauranga and finishing up in Auckland.
“It’s amazing, it’s one of the highlights of the cruise because it’s when we’re meeting the local people and learning about the culture from them.
“We’ve had many other amazing things to do but I feel this is a really important part of the experience for our guests, to learn about the culture and Māori people.
“I wouldn’t call it a tour, it’s more a visit to a local community of Māori people and I really like it.”
Rudolff said he would “definitely recommend” the visit to others and that he will be returning with more visitors throughout the summer season next year.
“I was really looking forward to meeting the Māori people, and you’re all super nice. It’s been a very nice experience.”
Haukainga of Ōtamarākau marae showing the tourists how they catch eel in their river using a hīnaki. Photo / Tamara Poi-Ngawhika
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said this initiative was brilliant for tourism as it showed how the operators and mana whenua can come together to reinforce the identity of the Bay of Plenty.
Nathan said supporting visitor experience across the coastal region in which Māori culture and storytelling could be shared in a meaningful way was important and “Tourism Bay of Plenty actively does this by providing capability building, trade training, and industry insights”.
“My team and I have been working directly with the operator to develop these new types of tours for cruise passengers this season, and we’re thrilled these are now happening.
“The ability to grow the engagement, participation, and inclusion of Māori in the delivery of visitor experiences is significant.”
Nathan said initiatives such as this were a great start and he was “excited” to get more tourism products from the region on the radar of the cruise ships.
“Simplicity is where it’s at in 2023,” Stanley said.
Tourism Bay of Plenty provided New Zealand Statistics data for the past two seasons.
In the 2018/19 season, nearly 230 000 passengers contributed $89 million to the Bay of Plenty region through the Port of Tauranga and in the 2019/20 season, about 183 000 passengers spent $74m.
Tourism Bay of Plenty said the 2019/20 season was forecast to bring in more ships and passengers than the 2018/2019 season, but was cut short by Covid.
The Bay of Plenty Times asked Crossman how much passengers were charged for the marae experience but he declined to comment.
