Taupo District Council’s consultant is preparing a strategic Destination Management Plan for the Taupo Destination. The intention is to explore ways in which this Destination can grow sustainably in a way that reflects our values. They advise it will take a holistic approach, considering social, cultural, economic and environmental values of the destination. But for Turangi it is a futile waste of time..

The Destination Management Plan for the Taupo Region is progressing on to the second phase. Meetings were held throughout the region to seek community views on the future of tourism……. The second Turangi meeting is next Monday. Council claim they want to know what is important to ensure that our district benefits from tourism.

But in June 2017 at a cost of $55,000 an “Economic Development Strategy” report was prepared for Taupo Council. The recommendations from that were subsequently ignored. The Toe-paw politicians have short memories. It has all been done before.

(Turangi’s economic value indicators have moved considerably since the time of that report in 2017. An example is the average house price has since increased by 274% i.e. from $191,750 to $526,000.)

For the first meeting in May TRM submitted a more comprehensive hard copy to reflect tourist anglers’ views. After the first meeting some of those tourist business owners and operators complained and suggested the meeting was more of a farce with twenty or so participants submitting their ideas, on large sheets of paper, on how Turangi qualifies as a tourist destination. It resembled a primary-school class exercise. Local business people were insulted by the exercise. The follow-up meeting is next Monday.

Their claim is that Turangi has already established an enviable worldwide reputation as “The Trout Fishing Capital of the World” for the last one hundred years. True! i.e. The Admirals Pool was named after the Admiral of the Fleet and Governor General who fished it in 1921. Other Turangi residents and business owners have similarly asked – “why replace a winning formula?”

Turangi is primarily a tourist town. The biggest most important tourist activity is trout fishing, revolving around the famous Tongariro River. It has been totally successful for many years as the main attraction for anglers from all over the world. About ten motels, various fishing lodges and back-packing and numerous b&b accommodation facilities and tackle shops and other suppliers are supported by the trout fishing guests. So why hold meetings to decide on what generates tourism in Turangi? It is so obvious it defies any common sense or logic. The local conspiracy theorists believe there must be a political agenda. The historic evidence indicates they are correct.

About seven years ago Taupo Council changed the historic“Welcome to Turangi” signs – from “The Trout Fishing Capital of the World” to “Source of the Lake”. A concerned motel saved one of the original signs and erected it on their prominent SH1 corner.

Taupo Council complained and eventually removed it. They claimed they had to as it included the previous obsolete council logo (which featured a trout) but then refused to replace it. When the motel eventually erected a new sign featuring the same wording –“The Trout Fishing Capital of the World” – the Taupo Council fined them.

There were no similar meetings in Turangi to consult or check with local opinion. Locals were offended and objected so the new signage was eventually removed. Then Taupo council decided to rebrand Turangi again as “The Gateway to the National Park”? Turangi was offended again as it has always valued and promoted its own local scenic attractions nearby, rather than promote another region.

Taupo is about fifty km north of Turangi. The Whakapapa skifields are about 50-60 km south. But as Taupo had a major investment in the skifield redevelopment – for gondolas replacing chair lifts, etc – over 100 km south of Taupo, they appeared to be trying to change Turangi’s tourist image – i.e. replace the trout fishing reputation – to protect their investment. That appears to be the only reason… If so, it is quite ridiculous!

Consider the latest evidence… After the first meeting, in an interview over the new co-governance system appointed for Turangi (now on TRM’s facebook), Turangi was referred to as the “Gateway to the National Park”?  Really? That would suggest it is too late for another destination decision meeting as Turangi’s revised new destination brand has already been established by Taupo council.  Therefore it is understandable that Turangi residents are so frustrated. The public usage of their new brand suggests the destination rebranding meetings are merely wasting our time ticking boxes so that Toe-paw council can claim that the people were consulted…

Everywhere tourists travel in Turangi they are reminded of our famous trout fishing heritage. From the first approaches the SH1 signs feature trout, the footpaths have trout fishing images, many houses have trout fishing features, garden sculptures, wind vanes, giant flies, etc. – particularly on the river side of SH1 – to reinforce the image of a village celebrating and dedicated to the noble art of fly fishing. Anywhere else they would be a tourist attraction but Toe-paw have ignored it. We cannot believe they are that unaware of the commercial benefits. It is foolish to consider changing the public image of such a well-known tourist town.

Long before the modern (1960’s style) hydro town was established on the western side of SH1, the original fishing village of Taupahi had been developed with holiday homes by anglers. Tongariro River Motel was established in the 1950’s (when Taupahi Road was the main north-south road) to cater for anglers. TRM even published their own map – The Tongariro River bucket list – Fifty Pools to fly fish before you Die – for tourist angler guests. Prior to the covid scare there were four tackle shops in Turangi – now sadly reduced to two in the absence of overseas anglers during the last two years.

Many books have been produced over many years as a result of the extraordinary trout fishing opportunities. Tongariro River Motel was so concerned about the neglect of so many fishing facilities and access tracks etc. they also published a book, described as a “mockumentary” – “Tongariro Skulduggery” – to expose the council’s bureaucratic arrogance. All profits were to be reinvested back into river enhancement projects – like funding tourist information panels to describe the history of some of the pools. (So far council has rejected our offer.) The fictional plot was a cunning plan to convince the government to fund restoration projects for twenty local tourist attractions, many of which are desperately in need of council or DOC refurbishment, to reinforce Turangi’s established reputation and future prospects as a world-famous trout fishing tourist village. The council’s consultant refused to read it of course.

Sadly, Toe-paw council has failed to consider local feedback. They continue to rely on their biased consultant instead of doing their homework and making their own decisions. They have consistently failed to even try to understand how historically important trout fishing is to Turangi. They have failed to consult with the most important sector group of all – the tourists. So TRM had to do it for them with our own simple “consumer survey”. Basic logic really…

About eight years ago TRM produced a brief in-house video to explain why visiting tourists returned again and again to Turangi and promoted the merits of trout fishing. The video compared other tourist activities and nearby locations such as Whakapapa – 56 km away in the Tongariro National Park – for skiing and other tourist activities such as biking and tramping and rafting, and then factored in the most important single reason or attraction to illustrate why? The reason so many came to Turangi was made abundantly obvious by the tourists themselves. It is a quite remarkable reality show… They cannot deny it.

Taupo Council used the same consultant to advise them previously, yet somehow, almost unbelievably, he overlooked the importance of the trout fishing industry to Turangi. If there are still any doubts about the local economy and what drives local tourism, then view the following: