Tourism Minister Stuart Nash announces funding for Whanganui & Partners, Visit Ruapehu

Visit Ruapehu supports local operators to improve their presence online. Photo / Visit Ruapehu

Whanganui and Ruapehu tourism organisations hope an injection of Government money will help continue a surge in domestic tourism seen around regional New Zealand in the last year.

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash announced today that Whanganui & Partners and Visit Ruapehu would each receive $700,000 to continue promoting the two districts.

Last year Whanganui & Partners invested in advertising to encourage people in the bigger cities to visit Whanganui and it worked, with domestic tourist numbers to the city increasing.

The new funding would mean the organisation could continue luring in the big city visitors, Whanganui & Partners said in a statement.

"The Government's decision to support our region shows the progress we've made has been impactful and recognises the value of our growth in the long term," Whanganui & Partners marketing strategic lead Jonathan Sykes said.

"This plan explicitly recognises that our region is worth investing in and has much to offer the tourism sector."

Sykes said Whanganui's success had been used an example by the Government when it outlined the funding details to Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs).

Whanganui & Partners said the minister had indicated use of the funding would follow a "high-trust model" and could be applied much like 2020's Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme (STAPP) funding was.

The minister expected more focus on working with iwi and communities as well as "destination management".

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) defined destination management as including the perspectives of visitors, iwi, tourism industry, wider business, local residents as well as local and central government when thinking about a visitor's experience.

Visit Ruapehu said transaction data showed there had been a significant increase in domestic spending for the year ending June 2021.

That meant more people were coming to Ruapehu as a year-round destination, instead of just during the skiing season.

"The new tourism world will not replicate the old, that has become even more apparent over the last year," Visit Ruapehu general manager Jo Kennedy said.

She was thrilled with the new round of funding.

"This new round of funding will enable us to increase our efforts in the destination management space," she said.

Her organisation had already supported local operators to improve their presence online and also helped them access funding and business support schemes thanks to STAPP funding.

The funding for Whanganui & Partners and Visit Ruapehu is part of a $26 million rollout to 31 RTOs around the country.

"Domestic tourism is experiencing a boom as Kiwis take the opportunity to 'do something new' and see more of their own backyard," Nash said.

He said the RTOs were working hard "behind the scenes" to make tourism more sustainable and for more collaboration among people and groups involved in the industry.

The amounts given out ranged from $400,000 to $1.5m.

"This is a significant investment," Nash said.

"It allows the RTOs to enhance destination management plans, build industry skills and capability, develop new products and ideas to attract visitors, promote sustainable tourism, and roll out marketing."

To be eligible for investment, RTOs need a commitment of funding from local government, among other criteria, and funding is allocated based on the size of the RTO.

Whanganui & Partners and Visit Ruapehu were considered medium-tier organisations.

In addition to the funding for the 31 RTOs, the umbrella body Regional Tourism New Zealand will receive $200,000 to provide support and help build capability within RTOs across New Zealand.