Gisborne - the best host region in the world

 

People with ideas on how Gisborne and the East Coast can become the ‘best host region in the world’ are invited to a public meeting on Friday 29 January 2010 at 12 noon in the Gisborne District Council Chambers. 

“We already have a culture of manaakitanga (looking after our guests) in this region. We now need to transfer people’s ability to be great hosts in their home or marae to the wider region. We need people’s ideas on how we can define the concept of manaakitanga and deliver it in a coordinated way,” said Mayor Meng Foon.

“Every year many events are held in this region and now it is time to look at what we are doing to welcome and look after our guests and what we could be doing better. We can make this happen without consultants and within current ratepayer funded budgets. All the ideas we need are already in our region. We just need to share them.”

“Its about working smarter together; not in isolation. All those involved need to communicate and share the common vision of making this place a great region to host visitors. We need visitors to return home with great memories that they want to share with their friends, families and work colleagues.”

“The benefit for our communities is more events, creating more jobs and more income to help local businesses to grow. Individuals can also benefit from increased visitor numbers by renting their homes to guests for up to $1,000 per night. This helps with the shortage of beds when large events are staged.”

“The Gisborne region has a number of very large events planned for the next couple of years. We will be hosting a rugby world cup team, are expecting 15,000 visitors to the to the Manuel Jose reunion in January 2011 and 30,000 the Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival in 2011,  An ongoing array of equestrian, powerboat, speedway, surfing, surf lifesaving and musical events continue draw visitors from throughout New Zealand.”

“I am hoping a range of people will attend. I am particularly keen to hear from event organisers, people that have hosted events before, local business people, marae representatives, transport and security companies, Maori wardens, tourism and accommodation operators,” Mayor Foon added.