MTB Tauranga president Mat Gibbard's son Nick. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua may be the "Disneyland" of mountain biking, but local Bay of Plenty clubs say more investment in the sport would help unlock potential for the sport to grow.
Mountain biking was a "drawcard" for visitors and leads to extra accommodation bookings and more spending in the region's hospitality and tourism sector.
But clubs outside of Rotorua fear they were missing out on the visitor spend as people headed there to ride instead and cash for more regional trails would help boost investment and grow the sport.
A report released this month, commissioned by RotoruaNZ and written by economist Benje Patterson, highlighted the impact the sport had on the local economy.
It found that $103.4 million was spent by people who visited for the sole purpose of mountain biking in 2021. Others who mountain biked while visiting Rotorua for other reasons spent a further $36.4m. That was a total contribution of $139.8m to the local economy.
On average, mountain bikers stayed about 4.1 nights and there were an estimated 116,366 overnight visitors.
About 1153 jobs could have been supported by mountain bike visitors' spending.
The return of international visitors could mean the total number of people participating in mountain biking in Rotorua could rise from 154,170 to 219,956 by 2026.
That meant the total spend could increase from $139.8m to $213.4m by 2026.
Rotorua Mountain Bike Club president Clair Coker said mountain biking was a drawcard.
"Rotorua is Disneyland for mountain biking in New Zealand."
She said the 1500-member-strong club had access to an "incredible facility" and was lucky to have a relationship with stakeholders, including the Rotorua Lakes Council and iwi.
Coker said a trail around Lake Tarawera, or Lake Rotorua, could help boost investment and grow the sport.
With free access to the forest, visitors were able to spend money in town on retail, cafes and accommodation, she said.
"We're so lucky to be so central."
Other mountain biking clubs around the region believed local economies were missing out on visitor spending, with manuhiri (visitors) choosing to head to Rotorua to ride.
But they believe investment in mountain biking meant more money would be spent at local businesses, even if it couldn't match Rotorua's trails.
Whakatāne Mountain Biking president Rich Hamer said the club was working with council and private landowners to find a suitable location to develop close-to-town trails.
Hamer said it would not be like Rotorua's network that had been built up over time but would be its own unique offering.
The club had grown from about 40 to 350 members, mostly from the district, since trails were developed in the privately owned Onepū Mountain Bike Park.
Hamer said the town was missing out by not having trails close enough to ride to, with the park being a 25-minute drive away.
The future of its use was also in question with owners planning to close the land to the public from mid-October, he said.
Hamer said they would work with the current owners and any new owners to be able to continue using the trails.
"As a mountain bike club, we've always known we've been gifted the right to ride there."
Plans to develop closer to town remained the highest priority as visitors were choosing to ride elsewhere and therefore spend money elsewhere, he said.
"It would be really lovely if we could capture that."
He estimated there had been more than $100,000 put into the development of trails at Onepū alone, as well as many volunteer hours, and said the plans for a ride-from-town network of trails would mean more cash in the community.
MTB Tauranga president Mat Gibbard said the club had 900 paying members who rode in the Summerhill Recreational Trails and Ōropi Grove Mountain Bike Park.
The club had invested about $40,000 in developing tracks at Summerhill.
Gibbard said lots of members were families looking for an activity together and were keen to see the trail networks increase and the money they spent trickled down to local retailers.
"We can tell by all the shops in town. There is some cash to be had."
The challenge in Tauranga was finding space for trails, he said, but he was aware of people looking to invest significantly.
Although Tauranga would "always be Rotorua's poorer cousin" in terms of trails, he said there was definitely a market.
"As a town, we are leaving cash on the table."
Mount Maunganui's Cycle Obsessions employee and mountain biker Luke Kivell said there was not much investment in mountain biking compared to other sports like snowboarding or skiing and it would be awesome to see more.
"There is a lot of potential for there to be more."
In Ōpōtiki, mountain bikers and cyclists often stayed at the Island View Holiday Park, which was located close to town and the Motu Trails, one of the country's Great Rides.
Co-owner Hugo van Gorkom said the park was an important resource for them.
Between 5 to 10 per cent of its guests used the nearby trails, including the cycleway being extended at the moment.
He said the investment into the upgrade would mean people could cycle from the camp to town and the Motu Trails directly, without having to use the State Highway.
"That will be absolutely amazing. It will definitely have a payoff for us."
While he said Rotorua was a "magnet" for mountain bikers, many guests stayed to try out local trails across the region.
Motu Trails Charitable Trust trustee Jim Robinson said local revenue came from a wide mix, including council and community trusts.
It also ran an official partner programme, with two corporate sponsors, which provided a "good portion" of the operating revenue.
"I love this aspect, about 25 operators in all, who support the trails with their membership and have mostly done so for years. Without them, the Motu Trails wouldn't work."
He said, as with most trails, there was a massive amount of volunteer work in all aspects of the operation and a lot of locals saw the benefit and got involved.
The benefits of investment in the trails spanned from the economy, with visitors coming to stay and spend money, to locals using them for recreation, he said.
"There's extensive enviro work on the Ōpōtiki coast as a direct result of the Dunes Trail."
Even though use of the trails was smaller than others in main centres and tourist routes, he said the economic benefit was undoubtedly significant.
"And most important it's spread widely across many small operators, mostly accommodation, between Ōpōtiki and Gisborne."
Tourism Bay of Plenty head of destination marketing Loretta Crawford said there was no doubt cycling, in general, was continuing to grow in popularity.
"This is prompting trail enthusiasts to travel nationally and internationally to pursue new challenges and experiences."
Crawford said the cycle trails the coastal region offered were highly valued by local riders and were one of the drawcards for visitors.
"This leads to extra accommodation bookings and other types of visitor spending in areas like hospitality and tourism activities.
"We're always interested in contributing to any discussions or investment ideas that have the potential to enhance our destination and which will help locals and visitors to enjoy and connect with all the places and experiences our region has to offer."
She said Tourism BOP was increasing the marketing of existing trails in the area, including in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty. This included the three mountain bike tracks at TECT Park and the Paengaroa to Okere Falls track.
Other offerings in the Bay included the Motu Trails, McLaren Falls Park, Summerhill Trails, TECT Park, and the Ōropi Grove Mountain Bike Park.
"Further inland, riders can enjoy one of two trails through the prehistoric forest at Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park."
Rotorua Lakes Council sport, recreation and environment manager Rob Pitkethley said the region was lucky Rotorua was well known as a biking mecca in New Zealand, and has mountain biking tracks to cater for all types of riders.
Since the late 1980s, it had worked alongside the landowners, iwi representatives and forest users to develop and leverage the unique natural assets.
"Developments in the forest still require a huge amount of volunteer labour alongside this, and [council] recognise and are appreciative of the impact this mahi has on our forest assets."
Financial contribution to supporting the mountain bike trail network in Rotorua also came from individuals making donations to businesses that support the Rotorua Trails Trust and others to build and maintain the many forest trails.
A previous Rotorua Lakes Council report in 2018 found people who rode in Rotorua's Whakarewarewa forest contribute between $30m and $50m in spending annually to the local economy.
It found there were 230,000 rides in the forest for the year.
A spokesperson for RotoruaNZ said mobile phone-based visitation data made accessible by Data Ventures in 2020 had enabled them to gain a more accurate view of total visitation to Rotorua.
The 2021 report said calculations from forest counter data suggested about 97,248 individual mountain bikers used Whakarewarewa Forest in June 2021, with 3641 being local bikers.
Other parts of the district also attracted mountain bikers, such as Skyline's tracks.
The new report used survey data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment International Visitor Survey to work out an approximate percentage of visitors who bike during holidays and was corroborated against a similar survey in Queenstown which arrived at a similar percentage, she said.
It estimated there were a total of 154,170 mountain bikers when using the visitor data.
"It's important to note that this is a standard approach to economic modelling and Benje Patterson has carried out similar work for Queenstown-Lakes.
"We will ensure that we keep the methodology the same going forward so that different time periods are comparable."
Rotorua Lakes Council's investment into mountain biking in the region in the last five years, funded through the Long Term Plan, included $2.41m on Waipa Valley Forest Access.
Council and Kānoa – Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit 50:50 split the cost of $3.89m on the Titokorangi Drive project, as well as $4.8m Te Pūtaki o Tawa.
They both also split $1.55m for the Whakarewarewa Forest Loop Great Ride, as well as $1.2m for signage at both Titokorangi and at Te Pūtaki o Tawa.
Council provided $850,000 for trail maintenance funding and $224,000 for support in kind.
It also supported events like Crankworx, with a total contribution of $1.025m.
A Kānoa spokesperson said Rotorua received $27.4m in 2018 from the Provincial Growth Fund to help redevelop the Rotorua Lakefront and Whakarewarewa Forest.
"Investments like this contribute to a better future for Rotorua's people and help unlock its potential as a world-class tourist destination."
MBIE major events manager Kylie Hawker-Green said the cumulative economic impact of the 2015-2021 Crankworx events had been independently assessed at $25.9m.
The Rotorua event received Major Events Fund investment of $2,796,758 from 2015 – 2021.
Tauranga City Council spaces and places manager Sarah Pearce said the council provided land for the Ōropi Grove Mountain Bike Park, and contributed up to $5000 annually towards the maintenance of the park, funded through its Long Term Plan.
The council also contributed 50 per cent towards the maintenance and new capital investment at TECT Park - a sub-regional park jointly provided by TCC and Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
Police have thanked the public for their help in finding Hayden Kemp.