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Tania Tapsell: Rotorua Mayor: on the Government investing $5 million for local tourism · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Americans, Chinese, Aussie tourists about to see a bunch more
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: ads for Rotorua. Government giving it a million bucks in
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: tourism funding boost, part of a $ 5 million funding increase
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: for the regions. Tanya Tapsell, Rotorua Mayor with us this morning. Tanya,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: good morning.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Good morning.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: A very exciting announcement. Certainly is. $ 994, 000 to attract more
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Chinese visitors through the Kiwi North food and hospitality campaign.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: What's that?
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: So this is actually acknowledging that a big part of
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: tourism is also hospitality. So you need to remember that
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: at this time, our restaurants, our cafes have been doing
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: it really tough. So this has been a welcome announcement
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: to those who want to see, especially not just international visitors,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: but during the quiet seasons when our domestic us may
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: not choose to travel as much. Right.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: So is this specifically advertising Rotorua's hospitality establishments?
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Yes, and if you think about it, we've got some
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: incredible establishments as well that are very well known. We
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: now have Michelin stars in New Zealand. We hope to
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: get those in Rotorua soon. But it's a full package, right?
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: So as an example, I love to travel for food
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: and actually a bit of drink sometime too. But when
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: they come, they want to enjoy the culture, the environment,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: relax in our spas. But food is a very big
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: part of that. And we've kind of been sleeping on
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: that opportunity when you consider how other countries market themselves
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: to the world.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: What about your mountain biking? I've got friends who are
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: into mountain biking. They say that you have world-class mountain biking.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Is that more domestic or international? Do you have Aussies coming?
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Do you market that?
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Yes, we do. And we also host international competitions as well,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: which is a big part of it. So events actually
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: draw our international visitors. But definitely our Aucklanders do love
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: to come. And we know that for sure. They're actually
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: our biggest market. So locals, I can guarantee, are out
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: there every single day. But the big part about this announcement,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: the regional tourism boost, is making sure that in those
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: quieter winter seasons, our businesses, our workers aren't doing it
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: tough because we don't have enough domestic travel. So that's
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: why focusing on international visitors is still important.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: What about the rough sleeping and the begging problem? Are
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: people still dropping their decks on Main Street and are
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: you waiting for the move-on orders or what?
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Don't worry about that. We've fixed that already. Oh, have you?
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Okay, you're all good. Where are they? Where have they gone?
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Yes, so we, as you know, unfortunately, had 56 motels
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: at its worst of emergency housing we actually put in
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: the solution of building affordable homes. A large portion have
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: gone back to where they wanted to live. But also,
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: I've got to say, we've recently released a MES task
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: force preventing homelessness. So we actually identified where the gaps are.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: How do people become homeless in the first place? And
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: so it's about not only those short-term solutions, such as
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: this awesome funding boost, but also preventing those problems in
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: the future. So Rotorua is a great place to visit,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: and we can't wait to welcome more visitors.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: So if I come, I haven't been in a couple
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: of years, but if I come to Rotorua, I'm not
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: going to see homeless people sleeping on the street.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: No, you're not going to see those bloody trolleys everywhere either.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: We've cleaned the place up. Come and enjoy it.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Tanya Tapps, Rotorua Mayor. Good to have you on the program.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:21
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• 3:25
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