Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

I don't blame people in other regions for making their own labels about Tauranga. They rarely hear anything about Tauranga other than advertisements for retirement villages.

Whether we like it or not, these labels determine our city's reputation. And our reputation will affect our ability to attract skilled workers into the city. We need to tell our side of our story.

Tourism Bay of Plenty has shown we can change people's perceptions about Tauranga when the country is watching us.

They have grabbed opportunities to tell our stories while the nation watches Tauranga. Some examples include the Black Caps cricket series in October 2014, the AIMS Games, and the recent ‘Plenty to Love' campaign during the ‘Bachelor NZ' TV series.

Events are a great way to grab the country's attention and bring people together. Our events strategy will evolve over time to ensure Tauranga can support events our residents are proud of.

Tauranga City Council has included more than $500,000 each year for supporting major events. We'll focus on events that bring tourists into the city, add value to our economy, help build a year-round events calendar, and increase the community's pride in our city.

We also have a $50,000 fund for small to medium community events. This enables us to remove barriers facing community events, which aim to bring residents together.

It takes a while to develop great local events. We've learned lessons from other councils where events have gone bad or failed.

We're focusing on building up the current events that are running well. We're also working with top event organisers to develop new events.

New Year's Eve in the Mount is the only major event council runs. Council sponsors good events that will bring tourists together with locals, while showing the nation there's more to Tauranga than just retirement villages.

Feel free to email me your thoughts (matt.cowley@tauranga.govt.nz), call/text me on 027 6989 548, and follow me at www.facebook.com/a.younger.voice.