The Bay with Plenty

Grey power. A nice place to retire to. Pity about the hoons at the Mount at New Year. That's what people have thought of the Bay of Plenty. But, as COLIN MOORE reports, the place is being made over.

There is a split personality to Tauranga, capital of the Bay of Plenty. The city centre - with its modern cobbled mall and pavement cafes - is as sophisticated as you'll find in New Zealand.

Here young office workers sip lattes and nibble paninis in surroundings every bit as trendy as Vulcan Lane, Auckland, or Willis St, Wellington.

Clothing boutiques and collectibles' stores entice the knowledgeable international shoppers who crew visiting ships. They know fine products, good deals and a relaxed atmosphere - and have put the word around.

Yet in some of those same stores you can catch a glimpse of the other Tauranga - the service centre for a huge forestry, agriculture and horticulture hinterland.

The outdoor adventure shops, of which there is an almost disproportionate number, sell clothing brands by small New Zealand companies that you will not find in Auckland's Queen St.

This is sturdy, well-made gear and the catalogues feature good, keen men fencing, working cattle or packing out a deer head, not trekking in Nepal.

Drive across to the Mount and you see the same dichotomy. Mt Maunganui is undeniably New Zealand's most developed seaside resort. It is certainly the closest thing you'll find this side of the Tasman to Queensland's Sunshine Coast and resorts such as Noosa.

But get there by the toll bridge and you will pass mountains of wood chips and piles of logs waiting for export. This is the Bay of Plenty and its wealth is on display for all visitors to see.

The trouble is that it is not exactly the image that Tauranga wants to present to holidaymakers.

The city says it is at the heart of "the coast with the most" and while it is quite happy to spread its tourist bailiwick as far south as Te Puke it is less so about going much further afield in the plentiful province.

The Tauranga District Council has organised its own tourism strategy, separate from the previous all-embracing Tourism Bay of Plenty, so it can sell Tauranga and the BoP coast as a standalone destination.

Research found that in the major domestic markets of Auckland and Waikato there was little awareness of Tauranga as the gateway to the wider Bay of Plenty.

The predominant perceptions of the city seemed to be of New Year hoons at the Mount, as a nice, tidy place, and as a retirement area.

In fact, retirees account for just 24 per cent of Tauranga's population and there are just as many 16- to 19-year-olds living in the city.

The new marketing team's first move was to ask Tauranga residents what three things they most identified with the region.

The overwhelming response was the Mount, the sea and sun.

So from now on you can forget this as an old folks' city invaded once a year by yahoos - there's that duality again.

Tauranga is the place for relaxation, romance and adventure.

Next summer 42 cruise ships will berth at Mt Maunganui and among the attractions is the quality of the boutique shopping in downtown Tauranga.

Cruise passengers will walk the Mount, perhaps play a round of golf on the famed Mt Maunganui links, surf, fish, visit a kiwifruit orchard, or even take a bus to Rotorua.

But the burghers of Tauranga are determined that the focus will be their city, "at the heart of it all."