Rotorua tourism operators want Government fix for ‘brand damage’

Rotorua tourism, accommodation and hospitality operators believe the Government has damaged the city’s image and has not done enough to fix the “mess” it created.

They were responding to comments made by Deputy Prime Minister
Grant Robertson who said the Government was taking concerns about emergency housing in Rotorua motels “very, very seriously”.

Robertson was asked by a Rotorua Local Democracy Reporting journalist at the post-Cabinet press conference on Monday what the Government was doing to protect the tourism reputation of the city.

Robertson said the Government had invested money and resources, including through the Provincial Growth Fund and $85 million for housing through the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund.

He said the latter would help build 3000 houses. He also highlighted “tourism funding” from the Government including that businesses had received “significant amounts of money and support from us”.

“Rotorua is still a busy tourism town – I know that from talking to people who are there – but there are other issues that need to be dealt with, and we’ll deal with those,” Robertson said.

Velocity Valley general manager and Rotorua Tourism Investment Partnership chairwoman
Debbie Guptill said in her view the Government had not done enough.

“I’m not sure they really understand the long-term effect this currently is and will have on Rotorua.

“Our manaakitanga, brand and infrastructure including people and assets have been built over 170-plus years.

She believed Rotorua “brand damage” was being caused by “decisions of central government that will have long-term implications”.

“Our tourism infrastructure should not be seen as the Government’s solution to the housing crisis and homelessness.”

She questioned Robertson’s suggestion the Government was doing a lot to support Rotorua.

Guptill said tourism funding was appreciated but that benefited individual businesses and did not fix the reputational damage she believed was being caused by the Fenton St emergency housing woes.

From her perspective, Rotorua’s domestic reputation was being hit hard and she believed it was only a matter of time before this spread to international visitors.

The Rotorua tourism industry was working harder than ever to maintain a positive front for manuhiri (visitors), she said.

“We have a plethora of tourism offerings and we’re supported by a great variety of accommodation offerings. We are here with open arms and ready to provide positive, memorable experiences.”

Andrew Wilson, chief executive of regional tourism organisation RotoruaNZ, said issues around emergency housing were raised more than 12 months ago and ministers responded by announcing in May last year that mixed-use of motels would end.

In his view: “It is extremely frustrating that as we prepare to welcome back overseas manuhiri there still doesn’t appear to be a clear plan for how this, or an end to the broader use of motels for emergency housing, will happen.”

He believed Rotorua had been dealt a “double blow” unlike anywhere else in the country across all metrics.

“Emergency housing has tangibly hindered our recovery from the impacts of Covid-19. As we’ve said before, our belief is that further support similar to what was received by the South Island tourism sector, is required to put our recovery back on track.”

RotoruaNZ recently developed a dashboard to help would-be tourists avoid mixed-model motels after hearing feedback some had been caught out.

Rotorua Accommodation Network chairman Nick Fitzgerald said he did not believe the funding from the Provincial Growth Fund, Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme, or Covid response – such as wage subsidies and cashflow loans – had anything to do with Rotorua’s concerns.

“[That funding has] been dished out to every corner of the country. It’s appreciated the investment to enable development in the future, but that doesn’t go any distance to resolving the now.

In his view: “They have created a mess and they have not fixed the mess yet. I feel the Government has taken for granted the hospitality of Rotorua and in the future it seems they will need to prop us up with more money.”

Fitzgerald said he believed the Government had been slow to resolve the issues it had created despite widely voiced concerns.

“I hope there is consideration about the damage that has been done to the Rotorua brand and they put some money towards improving that …

In his opinion: “They have used Rotorua to our detriment and they have used our hospitality.”

Rotorua publican and Hospitality Association of New Zealand Bay of Plenty branch president Reg Hennessy said he started pointing out the problem that was manifesting in Rotorua three years ago.

“Everyone told me to pull my head in and I didn’t know what I was talking about, but here we are. The town is dead as a duck most nights. Sure, it picks up in the weekend … but tourism can’t survive on weekends.”

He said, in his opinion, Robertson was telling Rotorua to “shut up and go away” because the Government had given the city money.

In his view: “Money doesn’t fix reputation and our reputation has been totally destroyed. They all need to hang their heads in shame.”

Robertson declined to respond to the comments made by the Rotorua operators, saying he would let his comments at Monday’s press conference stand.

– Additional reporting Felix Desmarais, local democracy reporter