Editorial: Report serves a feast of ideas

Ray McVinnie MCs at the launch of the Food and Wine Classic at Craggy Range Winery in Hawkes Bay. Photo / Richard Brimer

Ray McVinnie's report on hospitality culture in Rotorua makes for fascinating reading.

The accomplished chef, food writer and TV star was tasked by the Inner City Focus Group to make the appraisal - review our standards and make recommendations.

As we reported at the weekend, among those recommendations were that the Night Market be expanded, that Eat Streat be more "cohesive", the Museum Cafe be improved and that Rotorua have city-wide WiFi.

It's not a bad wish list. The Night Market is a fantastic weekly event that has proven very popular. It's the sort of event that's great added value for tourists and in a town this size if locals go they're sure to bump into someone they know.

Imagine if it were to expand in scope and size, say towards Eat Streat, how vibrant that large section of Tutanekai St would be on a Thursday night.

Mr McVinnie's suggestion that a system of Eat Streat vouchers or dollars be introduced at the dining precinct has exciting potential too.

Could we one day see a situation where you can buy drinks and food from one outlet and enjoy it with friends who've bought from another outlet?

Eat Streat dollars would take care of any messy payment hassles.

When Eat Streat's renovations were first unveiled last summer part of the reason for the amazing atmosphere was the connectedness between the various outlets. Since then it's become a lot more compartmentalised. Anything that can contribute to a greater sense of community should be considered.

As councillor Karen Hunt notes in our story, the answer will in the end lie with the business owners - though it behooves them to talk to their customers about the best way forward.

Many other points in Mr McVinnie's report caught my eye - most notably locals' perceptions of the city and its service.

But that's a whole other editorial.