6 November 2018
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Job advertisements in BOP
Enquiry
I'm writing a story about the increase in job advertisements for the Bay of Plenty and I wondered if I could get a few comments from Michelle Templer, please.
There has been a 16 percent increase in job advertisements since last year and the tourism and hospitality industry has been a large contributor to this.
Anecdotally speaking...
How much busier does Rotorua get during the summer months?
Which tourism/ hospitality organisations need extra staff would you say?
How important is the summer period to the tourism sector and Rotorua's economy?
Response
From Destination Rotorua CE Michelle Templer:
It's great to see the tourism and hospitality industry contributing to a year-on-year increase in job advertisements as that's a positive sign of a vibrant visitor economy.
While summer is traditionally a busy time for the visitor industry, part of our focus at Destination Rotorua is to help smooth out the difference between the high and low season by increasing the number of shoulder season visits. That continuity is particularly important for Rotorua as tourism spend makes up 9% of our GDP, compared with 3.8% nationally.
It's also important that the industry is providing quality jobs, developing skills and continuing to invest in talent for the long term. To support this, Rotorua has recently launched the Manaaki programme, which is a customer service and destination training tool for the Rotorua visitor industry to help create local destination ambassadors.
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Media: Radio NZ - Checkpoint programme
Topic: Aotearoa New Zealand Tourism Strategy
Enquiry
Reporter sought interview with Mayor Steve Chadwick following release today by Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis of the Draft Aotearoa New Zealand Tourism Strategy which is now open for public feedback.
Response
The mayor reinforced the ongoing need for central government support for tourism infrastructure in the regions to alleviate the financial impacts of tourism growth
See the draft strategy at THIS LINK
See Minister Davis' release at THIS LINK
See LGNZ release at THIS LINK
