Nick Story: If we spend, tourists will come

Nick Story

"Grab our Share" is about making sure Hawke's Bay can improve the economic benefit from its tourism industry. The Tourism 2025 National Framework aims to increase tourism revenue from $24b to $41b. Hawke's Bay tourism industry has a plan to get its share of visitor growth, which could double the region's tourism revenue to $1b a year by 2025.

If we can do this, we all will benefit, but it will mean increasing your rates contribution for tourism from $12 to $24 to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council. The region's five councils and tourism operators support the plan, but we need your support.;

A colleague and I enjoyed the Talking Point article by David Simmons, director of Hawke's Bay Tourism. David's message resonated strongly with us as the success of Hawke's Bay Tourism directly affects our business. Consequently, we felt obliged to record our support for his message, from the perspective of Hawke's Bay Airport Limited as the airport is a major gateway to the Hawke's Bay and a financial supporter of Hawke's Bay Tourism.

David refers to the advertising campaigns that have caught his attention, which promote holiday destination brands including Northland, Taupo, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown " all competing with Hawke's Bay as family holiday destinations. It was disappointing to read that Hawke's Bay was not in the mix as a potential holiday destination, particularly when we reflected on the recent summer we have all enjoyed, together with a long list of our region's attributes that we take pride in and are the reasons we live in the Bay.

It is, therefore, hard to argue with David that Hawke's Bay should be a premium tourist destination. This is an easy conclusion for us to draw when we are inside the region and looking out. David's article poses the question of what are we doing as a region to encourage holidaymakers to look at Hawke's Bay and include us on their list of holiday destination options.

How many times have we heard visitors to Hawke's Bay say the Bay is "the best kept secret"? How can we attract a greater share of the tourist dollars that are available?

David comments that Hawke's Bay Tourism suffers from significantly less ratepayer funding than other regions competing for the tourist dollar. We can only reap what we sow and there will undoubtedly be a relationship between our share of spend on tourism promotion versus competitor regions and our share of what tourists spend - in Hawke's Bay.

Hawke's Bay Airport's vision begins with our desire to be a welcoming gateway to the Hawke's Bay Region. We are privileged that arriving passengers have already made the decision to come to Hawke's Bay, however we do not take this for granted.

Our draft Statement of Intent includes a proposed $5m investment in the redevelopment of our terminal.

It is anticipated that this will improve the customer experience at the airport for all inbound and outbound travellers, for all visitors to the airport and will provide appropriate facilities for the continuing growth in passenger numbers.

Our annual passenger numbers are projected to grow from 460,000 in 2015 to 800,000 by 2030, which will require significant further investment in our infrastructure. Hawke's Bay Tourism is also planning for investment to facilitate growth and requires increased ratepayer funding to achieve its tourism growth objectives for our region.

I noted recently in their book, The Business of Brands, Millward Brown write: "Engagement with consumers through powerful and effective communications remains at the heart of the marketing process".

Hawke's Bay Tourism has a plan to increase visitor spend from $550m in 2014 to $1b in 2025. They are proposing significant investment in communication to promote the region's tourism assets to reach holidaymakers and actively target them. It would, therefore, appear that Hawke's Bay Tourism is on the right track.

I wholeheartedly support Hawke's Bay Tourism's objective to "Grab our Share" of the projected national tourism growth plan. We need to ensure that Hawke's Bay is more effectively promoted and recognised as the premium holiday destination that we know it to be.
- Nick Story is chief executive of Hawke's Bay Airport Limited.

-Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion, and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz