Destination Whanganui: Your ideas for visitor attractions wanted

The community is invited to share ideas for future tourism in Whanganui during a workshop at the War Memorial Centre this week. Photo / File

Whanganui District Council's business arm Whanganui & Partners is seeking community feedback on its plans for attracting visitors to the region.

A public workshop will be held this Thursday for Whanganui & Partners to collect ideas from the community that will shape a destination management plan (DMP) for Whanganui.

Paul Chaplow, of Whanganui & Partners, said the DMP will help the local visitor industry develop in a way that is driven by what people in Whanganui want.

"Destination management brings together different stakeholders to develop a well-managed, sustainable visitor destination. It's a way for us to identify the social, economic, cultural and environmental risks and opportunities and plan our future around them."

Chaplow said the DMP will provide direction for developing Whanganui as a destination as well as opening up opportunities to attract future funding.

"The recently established international tourism levy collects $35 from everyone entering New Zealand on a temporary visa. This gets invested into tourism infrastructure, but regions can only access this if they have a DMP in place," he said.

Chaplow says the workshop will be an opportunity to identify community aspirations, values for Whanganui, how to define success for the community, and will outline the community benefits of a DMP developed with purpose.

"No region's plan is the same, and we need to ensure that ours reflects the interests and values of the people of Whanganui and what we want for our region."

Workshops will be held with iwi, tourism operators, community groups and the general public. Chaplow encourages anyone with an interest to take part in the public workshop on Thursday.

The workshop is on Thursday, August 13, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at the Cooks Gardens Event Centre. Attendees must register beforehand at whanganuiandpartners.nz/DMP or call 06 349 3119.