Sand, surf, and an invigorating walk to the summit of Mauao (Mount Maunganui) – they’re the attributes that have been attracting holidaymakers to our beautiful region for generations.
Data shows the $726 million visitors spent on their electronic cards while they were in the Coastal Bay of Plenty in the year ending June 2024 supported the employment of almost 9,000 people, generating average total employment earnings of more than $34 million a month.
However, every destination and its attractions and tourism activities face fluctuating microeconomic and macroeconomic factors which can add to or detract from its success.
Changes in traveller trends, discretionary spending, weather patterns, geopolitical tensions, and government policies are some examples that immediately spring to mind. Tourism has to constantly adapt and evolve.
Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) like Tourism Bay of Plenty are no longer tasked with simply attracting as many people as possible to spend as much as possible.
It’s now about matching the Place DNA®, the essence of the place and people that make a destination unique, with the types of visitors that are most likely to appreciate it.
There’s also a growing requirement for tourism to maintain its social license, to give back more than what it takes to help ensure that residents will continue to welcome and appreciate visitors.
With that in mind, Tourism Bay of Plenty launched some key programmes a few years ago, which have since earned national acclaim.
The first is the Flavours of Plenty collective, which has successfully brought the horticultural provenance and hospitality sectors together to create a distinctive regional foodie identity.
The second is The Green Room | Te Rūma Kākāriki, a 12-week programme that’s helping more than 100 visitor sector organisations to be more economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.
Both initiatives have taken a concept that the coastal region is known for – its sociable, nature-focused lifestyle – and matched it with two emerging global visitor trends: foodie tourism and ecotourism.
The Flavours of Plenty collective meets several times a year to collaborate and inspire each other. This prompted the creation of the multi-award-winning Flavours of Plenty Festival – a compilation of diverse foodie events and competitions that have been held across the region every autumn since 2022.
The festival is a non-profit entity, utilising sponsorship for essential planning, marketing and administration, with all ticket sales and on-the-day proceeds going straight to participating businesses.
It’s a win for travellers who are keen to attend a tasty event; it’s popular with locals, who enjoy the extra buzz the festival generates; it’s appreciated by the region’s unique and talented food and beverage producers and hospitality businesses; and the festival’s become a major drawcard for our destination, which is now on every New Zealand foodie lover’s radar.
Meanwhile, The Green Room | Te Rūma Kākāriki has become a leading example of how regions can implement the ambitious goals set out in the Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) New Zealand Tourism Sustainability Commitment, with lower carbon emissions being a top priority.
Tourism Bay of Plenty has secured essential funding and engaged key delivery partners to give more than 100 visitor sector organisations free access to sustainability tools and specialists that support change.
Graduates have measured and reduced their carbon emissions, reduced landfill waste, made their organisations more financially resilient, are more involved in their communities, and are more likely to include te reo Māori in their everyday operations.
These individual actions may sometimes seem small but are being amplified by the collective efforts of all programme participants to create positive ongoing impacts throughout the region.
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan says the Flavours of Plenty Festival and The Green Room | Te Rūma Kākāriki are being recognised as exemplars of how regional tourism organisations can effectively support visitor sector businesses to make a noticeable difference in their communities.
* Tourism Bay of Plenty is a Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) that’s primarily funded by Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
