The tourism lead of a Bay of Plenty ahu whenua trust says their decision to employ more uri at home has transformed the organisation into an award-winning company.
The tourism lead of a Bay of Plenty ahu whenua trust says their decision to employ more uri at home has transformed the organisation into an award-winning company.
Tauhara North No.2 Trust, which specialises in geothermal energy, saw its tourism arm, Te Pā Tū, win two prestigious accolades at the 2024 New Zealand Tourism Awards.
These include the Tourism Industry Aotearoa Excellence Award for Small-Medium Businesses and the Visitor Experience Award.
Kiri Atkinson-Crean says the trust purchased the formerly known Tāmaki Māori Village, which attracted around 100,000 tourists annually before COVID. However, the pandemic severely impacted the business, as 97 percent of its income relied on international tourism.
She says continuing the pre-COVID model of high-volume, low-value tourism would compromise the legacy they wish to leave for future generations.
So they shifted their philosophy to align the tourism experience with the values of kaitiakitanga and underpin the trust’s operations across its other ventures.
“We’ve reduced the o2 levels. We’ve boosted the yield that we make from each visitor, and our visitor satisfaction ratings have gone through the roof. So I think our people are happier. I think our whenua is happier. I think our ancestors are happier at what we’re sharing, and it’s a lot more fun,” says Atkinson-Crean.
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