Column: It's time to invest in our city's future

The fuss, pomp and ceremony was well worth the effort last Friday.
With military precision, the timing of each guest's arrival, the seating, the adornment of colours of the British flag, the perfectly positioned flowers and, of course, the accompanying music to set the scene ... and this was just at our house.
There was, I admit, a bit of jockeying for the remote to check out how the Breakers were faring in their final, but the Royals won on the night and the girls hid the remote, forcing the lads to retire to the dining room to listen to the ooohs and aaahs from another room.
I guess this scene was replicated in thousands of homes around New Zealand, bringing the country to a standstill as we all were transfixed by the occasion.
This event was something special and only the Brits can, in my opinion, include and woo all - from commoners, such as ourselves, to heads of state from all countries.
Our Prime Minister, John Key, and his wife looked absolutely in awe of the occasion and did us, the little nation in the South Pacific, proud.
Last Friday, alongside the Royal wedding timetable, the front page of The Daily Post carried the story about Ngai Tahu's investment intentions in Rainbow Springs.
This is testament to this sector's confidence to upgrade and expand, as has been shown during the past few years by other major attractions such as Skyline, Polynesian Spa, Agroventures and the soon-to-be revealed Agrodome upgrade.
The fact is, tens of millions of dollars have been spent on upgrading tourism attractions and infrastructure in the last decade and this sector is gearing up for an aggressive push to bring more visitors to our city.
I would suggest the millions spent on upgrading and expanding by such tourism operators should not go by without catching the eye of companies supplying visitor traffic to Rotorua, such as Air New Zealand.
In turn, this must give them the confidence to invest by way of additional flights from additional Australian destinations into Rotorua and then out to other destinations such as Queenstown.
You would think those crunching numbers in at 185 Fanshawe St, Auckland, would now be seriously considering supporting the gateway to New Zealand's premiere tourism destination.
If I were one of those number crunchers, I would also be looking closely at the competition, as the opportunity to supply passengers to our airport intensifies in the upcoming months.
Air New Zealand has been very well supported by Rotorua over the past two years of having international flights into the city.
Now would be a good time for Air New Zealand to support our industry, before our industry supports someone else.
- Grant Kilby is the general manager for Destination Rotorua Economic Development