Authentic Māori tourism experiences in new Whangārei cultural tourism guide

Tourism operators, community leaders and politicians attended the launch of the Whangārei Māori Tourism Group's Cultural Visitor Guide at Terenga Paraoa Marae on Friday.

Visitors to Whangārei wanting an authentic Māori cultural experience can find out where to go thanks to a newly-launched Cultural Tourism Guide.

Whangārei Māori tourism operators received a long awaited boost when they launched the new guide last Friday.

The collective marketing initiative was launched in front of Minister for Tourism Kelvin Davis, Whangārei mayor Sheryl Mai and other industry officials, following a powhiri at Terenga Paraoa Marae.

The collective is made up of three partners - Stay Native, which represents 12 Māori operators, Tu Tika Tours, which provides homestays, visits to cultural sites of significance and historical talks to go with the sites, and Pupurangi Hire & Tour, which is based at Whangārei Town Basin and provides land and water based activities.

"We want to make Whangārei a key destination for tourists," Rangimarie Harding, from Tu Tika Tours, said.

''We want people to come to Northland for real, authentic Māori experiences and tours. This is our unique point of difference when compared to all other areas. We want the world to come to Whangārei and look beyond the piupiu."

The collective initiative was supported by the Whangārei District Council who attended the launch. Tourism is worth more than $1.1 billion a year to Northland and Māori operators are getting an increasing slice of the tourism pie.

"Creating this brochure was a fantastic opportunity for us to work together to promote our Māori culture. Tourism is booming and is now our biggest exporter. Cultural tourism allows the Māori economy to benefit from that boom whilst creating spaces for us to be story tellers, guides and hosts," Chanelle Armstrong from Stay Native said.

The Cultural Tourism Guide tells the story of Reitu and Reipae. To support the print marketing material, a video has also been produced to tell that same story on screens. The guide will be available from iSites, with all tourism experiences listed being ready to book.

"For the first time, Whangārei will be bringing Māori history to the forefront. We will be sharing our stories, in our ways, told by our own people. There's power in that, and there's truth in that," Joanne Munroe from Pupurangi Hire & Tour said.

Harding said other Māori tourism operators in Whangārei are welcome to join the group in the future.