More reasons to visit Turangi? Before we update the 2018 blog on 50 (Yes, that is FIFTY!) reasons to visit Turangi…
This blog started as an update of a TRM Report from 2018. But a full revision is now needed following the RAL crash and the uncertain future of the Ruapehu ski fields. Taupo’s tourism strategy previously relied mainly on snowfall… while the rest of the world suffers from Global Warming?
So how do we revive tourism in Turangi after the Covid scare? Turangi desperately needs to be promoted. TDC (Taupo District Council) recently held a series of meetings in Turangi trying to persuade tourist operators to suggest reasons to visit Turangi in their new “destination” strategy.
They are in a mess. i.e. In the short time we have been here the billboard welcoming tourists into town has changed three times – from “Trout Capital of the World” (what a great slogan!) to “Source of the Lake” to “Gateway to the National Park”?
So where did this “Gateway” idea come from? In 2017 the Toe-paw Council’s “consultant” (?) produced a fancy brochure which must have cost $ thousands trying to convince everyone that the future of Turangi was by promoting as “the Gateway to the National Park”. (?) The Mayor has since referred to Turangi as such but their consultants misled them!
Since the RAL collapse, the future of the Whakapapa ski fields and the Council’s big investment in the sky waka is in serious jeopardy. The only other string in their bow for Turangi was what they described as a “shared use track”. We called it the T2T (Taupo to Turangi) trail to link up with the Tongariro River Trail. Now, assuming Council follows its own promotional advice, it will come back into Council’s focus so it is time we reviewed it for you.
But first, to make sure you have all the facts, consider the background report from TDC:
Extract from the 2017 District Economic Strengthening Strategy:
T2T shared use track
Connecting tourism flow from Taupō to Turangi
The proposed Turangi to Taupō track is a 57km trail extending between Taupō and Turangi and will pass through the communities of Waitahanui, Motutere, Waitekoko and Motuoapa. It will extend along the eastern bays of Lake Taupō providing a unique experience for both international and domestic tourists as well as creating business opportunity for the Taupō community.
Lake Taupō is the largest freshwater lake in Australasia and the surrounding area bears extensive winter
and summer cycling offerings. This combination of a beautiful natural settings coupled with district-wide tourism activity gives the T2T potential to be ranked among the most iconic trails in New Zealand.
The estimated total cost of the track is $18.3 million, with staged construction an option. (what BS!)
Target market
- Tourism (domestic and international visitors)
- Recreational cyclists and walkers (local residents)
- Broader potential market (do not currently walk or cycle but may be interested in doing so in the future)
Long Term Benefits
Increased employment and economic development opportunities for the District – 47 regional jobs created in the construction phase and between $2.87 and $4.71 million in annual regional income generated
Enhanced reputation for Taupō and Turangi as a national and international cycle tourism destination.
Track Strengths
Well positioned to increase the length of stay of international visitors in the region.
Provides easy-intermediate multi-day walks and rides that meet the demand of international visitors.
Well located between major population centres in adventure tourism district.
Advantage of Interesting settlements along the track.
Essential elements of scenic value and opportunities to be immersed in the landscape and interact with nature.
Offers year round adventure opportunity – targets shoulder seasons – therefore increased economic return.
Provide sustainable growth through business opportunity for small settlements along the eastern lake edge.
Creation of short term jobs through track design and construction.
Demand for secondary services throughout the region as construction progresses.
Employment growth indirectly related to the current investment in tourism development.
Diversification of the region’s tourism product and track mix.
Increased international awareness of Taupō as a hiking and cycling destination through branding and marketing.
Greater attraction of a high value and fast growing segment of New Zealand’s visitor market
Tourism Opportunity
Shoulder Seasons
Taupō’s current tourism industry experiences significant seasonal variation throughout the year, particularly for international visitors. Monthly overseas visitors during the winter season are almost a quarter of summer visitors, and domestic visitors decline significantly during the autumn months, particuarly May. In order to fully capitalise on Taupō’s potential tourist market, and provide more consistent income for the industry, it is important to focus on attracting tourists to the Taupō district during these shoulder seasons through proliferation of the winter activities.
This need has been identified in Destination Great Lake Taupō’s strategy “The Next Big Thing”, which focuses on marketing the shoulder season to visitors, both international and domestic. Their strategies include lengthening the perceived summer season, promoting the winter holiday experience, and growing markets which are likely to travel outside of New Zealand’s summer season. This focus ties in with RAL’s investment and potentially the T2T shared use track which will increase the activities available in the region during the shoulder seasons significantly.
By increasing the year-round aspect of Taupō’s tourism sector, it is possible that significant social benefits will be generated as flow-on effects. Greater certainty of jobs in hospitality and other tourism-related industries will encourage workers to make Taupō a home and invest in the area, rather than staying in the region for only a season. In addition, because tourism-related industries employ a larger proportion of unskilled workers on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum, economic benefits seen from increasing visitor numbers during the shoulder season will flow more directly on to the individuals and families in need.
Although the total build cost for grade 1 is $18 million, $8m of this is one 3km section between Titoki and Bulli points, where NZTA are potentially going to work on at some point in the future ~ only $6-8 million between Turangi and Bulli point.TDC have applied for classification of the shared use track as a “Great Walk” of New Zealand. |
No surprise – their application failed.
It is quite extraordinary that their strategy for increasing visitors to Turangi forgot to mention “trout fishing”?. Unbelievable in fact… How could highly paid professional consultants miss the fundamental reason for Turangi’s tourist industry? Then they expect you to believe them too… They must have seen the evidence on TRM’s video, prepared at the same time as their report, that has been posted on social media so many times over the last six years:
Their 2017 report was obviously planned by the council, or more likely their consultant, who must have been wearing blinkers. Obviously, they had no idea of what Turangi had to offer tourists. But even if we stick to their story, there are two major changes since the Council estimated their T2T cost budget.
1 The massive growth in the popularity of tourist recreational biking – the introduction of ebikes, in particular, has made biking an achievable goal for a new group of often retired folk who spend their retirement trying out all the new trails. Just have a look at how many bike racks are attached to cars since the council report was prepared in 2017. So the number of likely users needs a complete review.
2 The best indication that their excessive costs and other estimates are misleading nonsense is by comparing the most recently completed bike trail in NZ – the Dunstan Trail alongside a lake with clip-on ramps around the steep sections proves again that the Council cost estimates are wrong. After fighting their council for about 7 years the track was completed under budget and opened before winter 2021 in the middle of the Covid crisis with no overseas tourists. Couldn’t have picked a worse time. OK?
The Lake Dunstan Trail to link with Clyde (and the start of the Otago Rail Trail being extended back to Dunedin) involved some interesting engineering and access challenges. The daunting part of the application process was estimating the likely annual traffic count. This was critical for them to calculate the economic-financial viability and caused long delays. DOC’s expert consultants and bike trail advisors (the same ones as Taupo used?) optimistically estimated it could attract up to 7,000 tourists per year. More experts were consulted and eventually MBIE concurred. (The Ministry of Business Innovation and Enterprise has been the major Government funder for many other bike trails) After the track opened a counter was installed and Cromwell and Clyde tourist operators anxiously watched in anticipation…
By November, after five months, the traffic count exceeded over 50,000 bikers!
In January 2022 alone the traffic count was over 12,000 – and that was before any overseas tourists arrived. What an extraordinary increase in tourist numbers for the “down season” over the cold covid winter months. But it gets worse… The bike hire people suggested many, if not most, were from the North Island and most must have passed Turangi to get there!
The total cost of building the 55 km track was less than Taupo budget for just the Bulli Point section…
That is the only statistic and message that Turangi (in a far better location on SH1 in the middle of the North Island halfway to everywhere) and Toe-paw politicians need to remember. All the so-called professional Council and Government advisors hopelessly underestimated the demand and overestimated the engineering costs and difficulties.
This is the same as the Taupo advisors have for the last 15 years… It is time they appointed new consultants.
Toe-paw could learn so much from these other tourist trails. Comparatively, sadly, the fact is that Taupo’s bike trails have failed to link up with tourist trails from other regions. To attract biking tourists, to cater for this market, the Council needs to link with the Waikato River Trail and Rotorua trails to the north and the Tongariro River Trail to the south.
The Lake Dunstan Trail is part of a master plan by the Central Otago Queenstown Trail Network Trust to eventually create a 536-kilometre network of trails connecting Queenstown and Wānaka to the existing Great Rides linking with the Otago Rail Trail back to Dunedin. Just imagine the Tongariro River Trail linked with the Waikato River and Hauraki Trails…
If only Taupo Council would realise how important these tourist trails are to provide local employment opportunities… i.e. The Otago Rail Trail has created over 200 jobs. Taupo claims to have many bike trails but they were designed for bike club members. Their bike trail locations in Waihaha and Kinloch are far too remote from town, and their tracks are too physical and technical and unsuitable for tourist e-bikers. They are missing a great opportunity to encourage more tourists.
The most popular bike-packing trail of them all – the “Tour Aotearoa” from Cape Reinga to Bluff – misses out Taupo completely because their trails do not link up. No wonder they missed the trout fishing potential in Turangi.
If Turangi bike trails could attract a similar number of tourist bikers, our economic survival and prosperity would be secured. Here endeth the lesson.
Now, at long last, the tourist attractions of Turangi are being recognised – i.e. see the new logo below:
So next week the 2018 report – Fifty Reasons to visit and stay in Turangi – will be updated with some major changes…
A last additional reason to book now – do not procrastinate on your holiday plans – do it now – the image below looks like SWMBO on holiday…