Growing regional Māori tourism
Image - Susanne Becken
This page documents the findings from a four-year FRST-funded programme to help rural iwi develop new Māori tourism products and businesses that ran between July 2004 and October 2008.
We had two case study areas: East Cape/Te Urewera in the North Island where we worked with the Tūhoe Tourism Federation and the Te Urewera-Tairāwhiti Tourism Forum and Banks Peninsula (Te Pātaka o Rākaihautu) in the South Island where we worked with Takuahi Research and Development Ltd.
We worked with potential or developing Māori businesses in the Te Urewera and some of it working with the four papatipu Ngāi Tahu Rūnanga from Banks Peninsula and our interest was in fostering Māori tourism business development, both by working to understand the needs of businesses and by researching demand for tourism products with some Māori “flavour”.
On this page, you will find easy to read articles, some short abstracts and a range of reports
Short Articles to help with setting up a business
Tips for developing Māori ecocultural tourism businesses
We were inspired to write this article after discussions with two Māori groups in Northland.
The tips and tricks that the businesses we worked with found useful for drawing in their customers.
Some of the things Jo and Joe Doherty learned as the started up their own business in Te Urewera.
Helping Rural Māori Tourism Businesses Develop, and Strategies for overcoming Barriers
These 2 articles outline the strategies that Te Urewera business people used to help them develop their businesses.
Traditionally, inbound operators are an important part of the way tourists link up with businesses. This article looks at who they are and what it takes to work with inbound operators.
TRENZ is a huge international tourism show in which New Zealand tourism businesses market their businesses to Inbound tourism operators. Here are some tips on what you need to do to get your business there.
Here Jo Doherty outines the steps that she and operators in Te Urewera had to take to set up a new regional tourism network
Short Articles about tourist demand for Māori tourism
Here we summarise the main findings from the report "Demand for Māori ecocultural tourism."
Different visitors have different fears, interests and knowledge about te ao Māori . this article highlights what this means for the way people engage with Māori tourism experiences.
Differences between tourists on East Cape / Te Urewera and Banks Peninsula and Reported attractiveness of activities in two New Zealand regions.
Unexpectedly, we found that visitors to different parts of New Zealand had different levels of interest in a range of tourism activities they might do whilst in New Zealand.
Attractiveness of hovercraft trips to tourists
An article outlining some research completed looking at a variety of possible trips and contrasting them with interest in activities such as kayaking.
Recognition and appeal of Māori Design elements in a restaurant menu
Presents the results of a survey of tourist's choices of restaurant when presented with different menu formats - one of which highlighted Māori culture. Among other things, this article looks at who recognises motifs as being Māori.
Women as a potential market for guided hunting
Male visitors to Lake Waikaremoana were more interested in hunting than were women. BUT those women who were interested in hunting were much more interested in guided hunting than their male counterparts. Is this a potential niche market for hunting guides?
Accommodation patterns at Lake Waikaremoana
Here we look at the accommodation booking behaviours and patterns of different visitor groups. We found that many visitors don't understand the concept of marae stays.
Tourists' differing views of the road into Lake Waikaremoana
This article offers some interesting insights into the patterns of use of the different routes into Lake Waikaremoana. It seems that easier travel into the Lake matters more to people that having an easy trip home!
Abstracts
Cultural and Historical Factors Influencing Rural Maori Tourism Business Development
Present visitors’ interest in Maori cultural tourism on Banks Peninsula, New Zealand
Repeat visitation and place attachment: an accidental approach
An Actor Network Perspective on Rural Maori Tourism Development
Domestic Tourists in the context of cultural tourism.
Information search and booking behaviour of visitors to Lake Waikaremoana
Mentoring Māori businesses at start-up:
Māori Eco-cultural Tourism
Tourist perceptions of New Zealand eco-cultural tourism products
Barriers for Māori Tourism businesses
Reports & Papers
Full, refereed paper presented at the NZ tourism and hospitality research conference in Hanmer Springs, Dec. 2008.
Completed in 2008, By Marina Apgar and Chrys Horn, this report investigated how rangitahi from Māori communities around Banks Peninsula think about participating in their communities and about the idea of ecocultural tourism.
Completed in 2008, by Robin White, and Joanna Fountain of Lincoln University, and Chrys Horn from Landcare Research. This report details the findings of a survey conducted over the summer months of 2006-07 on Banks Peninsula. The report looks at a range of cultural heritage tourism and situates Māori focused tourism within that wider brief.
Demand for Māori eco-cultural tourism.
Completed in 2006 this detailed report draws together the findings from a literature review, a survey in which tourists were asked about their interest in a range of tourism products on offer in New Zealand to see what interest they have in ecocultural tourism, and a set of qualitative interviews conducted with mostly international visitors at Māori tourist attractions around the country to see what they enjoyed about the products, and how they understood them.
(photo Department of Conservation)
A profile of visitors to Lake Waikaremoana
Further demand work has been completed at Lake Waikaremoana in Te Urewera. In this report we document the results of a survey that asked visitors to a remote natural area steeped in Māori History and culture how they are spending their time there and what interest they might have in a range of activities. Lake Waikaremoana is a remote place where there are enough people to make it worthwhile surveying. Alongside this survey we ran a self completion survey in the broader area also to see what facilities and activities visitors might be interested in and what people visiting these areas aspire to. Both surveys offer some interesting insights into tourism in remote rural areas and into the tastes and interests of domestic tourists as well as those of international tourists.
A summary and a downloadable copy of the report can be found by clicking here.
This report discusses the results of interviews with Inbound Operators about their interest in Māori tourism products. Joanna Doherty of Kitea Developments interviewed 12 inbound operators who develop tours for visitors that include Māori experiences.
A literature review looking at supporting Māori business development.
This report provides a review of literature focused on supporting Māori business development
Comments and feedback on this Growing Regional Māori Tourism site are welcomed and should be directed to Helen Fitt
(Email
).