Kristin Dunne Tourism Bay of Plenty

Imagine a Tauranga bursting with things to see and do, all-year-round visitors supporting local businesses, ample accommodation and an additional 4000 jobs.

These are all aspirations for which we'll be able to advocate if we secure an additional $620,910 from Tauranga City Council in 2018/19, to manage and plan for tourism growth in a way that is sustainable both financially and environmentally.

This is not an unreasonable request. The national benchmark for similar-sized regional tourism organisations is 0.21% of visitor spend, whereas Tourism Bay of Plenty currently receives just 0.13%.

Why do we need this planning?

Because here in the Coastal Bay of Plenty, tourism is already worth $1 billion a year – and projected to grow to $1.45 billion within the next decade.

Next year alone, the number of cruise ships coming into the Port of Tauranga will increase from 83 to 109, bringing 224,000 visitors to the city. It's important that we get in front of this growth curve, to avoid a ‘crisis management' approach to tourism.

Additional funding will allow us to add ‘Destination Management' to our tourism toolkit and be advocates, on your behalf, for controlling tourism's environmental impacts and preserving the region's unique identity.

In short, we'll be making your local community a better place not just for visitors but also for you.

To show your support for our Long Term Plan request, please make a submission by April 16 at www.goodquestion.nz, or for more information on our Visitor Economy Strategy email admin@bayofplentynz.com