Taupo Council post as follows – quote:
“Our friends at Destination Great Lake Taupō (Love Taupō) are working with iwi and the wider community to develop a Destination Management Plan (DMP) for the future of tourism in the Taupō district.
One of the key goals of the plan is to ensure tourism exists in a way that benefits our communities and the environment. To understand how communities want tourism to shape their future, Destination Great Lake Taupō are running public engagement workshops around the district this month that are open to anyone who would like to attend.” etc…
The plan also aims to weave cultural perspectives together, creating a shared commitment and statement of intent for the future development, protection, and regeneration of the region as a tourism destination. Long term, the plan aims to create positive social, cultural, economic, and environmental outcomes for the benefit of future generations.
When a town has been successfully known and branded by the council for the last fifty years as “The Trout Fishing Capital of the World” it is all a bit of nonsense really, but being a responsible operator of a tourist facility for the last 18 years, TRM’s manager SWMBO is obliged to try to help guide the council with their decision.
As we were unable to attend their meeting, TRM have posted this to provide them with the ideal innovative first-step solution for their DMP on how to promote Turangi as a sustainable tourist destination.
To effectively compete with other tourist locations they need to be more innovative and flexible in their thinking, instead of the same old same old… If they did not know how then they should have approached the market directly and asked the tourists or learn from some other fabulously famous successful precedents. i.e. such as Surfers Paradise.
TRM are very fortunate to have been able to discuss this issue with so many knowledgeable tourist inmates who concur with our suggestion… as follows:
In this more enlightened age when so many tourist places in NZ (Aotearoa?) are being rebranded from English to Maori names, we need to show more commercial initiative. To capture worldwide headlines the council should reverse this unfortunate trend which would immediately capture tourists’ attention. As the council failed miserably so far – with their failed branding names like “Source of the Lake” and “Gateway to the National Park” – Toe-paw officials should learn from a more successful precedent of another tourist mecca that was once a cute little town like Turangi. All they had was a river by a beach but by rebranding they converted it into a Gold Coast mega star image. They do not even have trout fishing or any of the other attractions that attracts tourists in NZ. Turangi has so much more to offer.
Surfers Paradise was once known as Elston. It was located close to an area the native Kombumerri people called Jarri Parila, was originally settled as a farm land region in 1869 by James Beattie.
In 1889, their postal address meant the area was officially named Elston, a far cry from the now glamorous, highly appealing, and apt name of “Surfers Paradise”.
It was around 1920 that Jim Cavill bought 25 acres of land in Elston. In 1925 he opened a 16 bedroom hotel along a relatively isolated spot on a stunning white surf beach. He lobbied for years to change the name of Elston to Surfers Paradise and in 1933, was successful. The rest is history…
Imagine the Australian or Queensland government now renaming their beach Jarri Parila?
Yet that is what is happening here… In recent years there has been a PC frenzy to rename NZ streets and parks with Maori names. If they honestly want the towns to flourish and succeed as tourist destinations, they should admit the councils have got it all wrong…
They forgot to consult with tourists from overseas who they assume will understand Maori names? From our experience tourists still get confused following English names!
It just so happens that historically the first motel in Turangi was named Tongariro River Motel in the late 1950’s and developed on a similar main road wasteland. The main attraction in Turangi is unquestionably the Tongariro River… Hint, hint.
If Toe-paw are serious about enhancing the destination for tourism, they need to do better than they have so far…
So how do TRM tourists suggest we should rebrand Turangi?
Trout Fishing Paradise?
It has proven to be a winner on West Island and has to be better than the “Gateway to somewhere else”…