Tokoroa Office: Phone (07) 885 0340 Fax (07) 885 0718 Putaruru Office: Phone (07) 883 7189 Fax (07) 883 7215 Tirau Agency (Information Centre): Phone (07) 883 1202
Private Bag 7 (Torphin Crescent) Tokoroa 3444 Website: www.southwaikato.govt.nz Email: [email protected]
Corporate and Regulatory Public Meeting Agenda
9 September 2021
Attachments to Reports
Item 5.3 Executive Group Report – August 2021
Item 5.4 Hamilton and Waikato Tourism Annual Report to June 2021
Item 5.5 Te Waka Service Level Agreement January to July 2021
TM the South Waikato … discover it … live it … love it … South Waikato Media Coverage 03 June – 26 August 2021
Toyota Presentation – V e r s i o n 0 1 Coverage summary
Wright Communications achieved 20 pieces of coverage for various South Waikato stories throughout the months of June, July and August, with six print stories, nine online stories and five social media mentions amounting to a combined reach of 4,329,400.
At the beginning of June, Wright Communications secured two pieces of coverage in the Waikato Business News digital and print editions focused on Tokoroa-born Ashleigh Hawera’s activewear business success, highlighting the hardwork and dedication she had put into her all-female, Maori run business in the district.
Wright Communications also worked with South Waikato District Council and Senate SHJ to manage the announcement that Olam is planning to build a dairy plant in Tokoroa. Coverage included both Farmers Weekly digital and print editions, Stuff.co.nz and the front page of the Waikato Times. All articles included reference to the significant investment the facility will bring to the South Waikato district which will bring new jobs and opportunities. These stories had the potential to reach over 2 million readers.
Following the completion of the long anticipated South Waikato Trades Training Centre in late July, local iwi Raukawa blessed the site, and the news was picked up by Waikato Business News and shared through a network of social media pages including Te Ohomai Facebook and LinkedIn, South Waikato District Council Facebook and Raukawa Facebook pages.
In order engage key local stakeholder groups to inform the local town and district rebranding project Wright Communications managed the production of advertisements that were placed on social media and in South Waikato News to drive participation to the social pinpoint engagement platform. Two stories about the branding project were also secured in South Waikato News and on Stuff.co.nz
Presentation – V e r s i o n 2 0 1 P r i n t
Waikato Business News
Presentation – V e r s i o n 3 0 1 O n l i n e
Waikato Business News Online
Presentation – V e r s i o n 4 0 1 O n l i n e
Farmers Weekly
Presentation – V e r s i o n 5 0 1 P r i n t
Farmers Weekly
Presentation – V e r s i o n 6 0 1 O n l i n e
SWDC Site
Presentation – V e r s i o n 7 0 1 S o c i a l
SWDC Facebook
Presentation – V e r s i o n 8 0 1 S o c i a l
Raukawa Facebook
Presentation – V e r s i o n 9 0 1 O n l i n e
Scoop
Presentation – V e r s i o n 10 0 1 O n l i n e
Voxy
Presentation – V e r s i o n 11 0 1 S o c i a l
Toi Ohomai LinkedIn
Presentation – V e r s i o n 12 0 1 S o c i a l
Toi Ohomai Facebook
Presentation – V e r s i o n 13 0 1 O n l i n e
Toi Ohomai
Presentation – V e r s i o n 14 0 1 P r i n t
South Waikato Times
Presentation – V e r s i o n 15 0 1 S o c i a l
SWDC Facebook
Presentation – V e r s i o n 16 0 1 O n l i n e
Waikato Business News Online
Presentation – V e r s i o n 17 0 1 O n l i n e
Waikato Business News
Presentation – V e r s i o n 18 0 1 O n l i n e
Stuff.co.nz
Presentation – V e r s i o n 19 0 1 P r i n t
Waikato Times
Presentation – V e r s i o n 20 0 1 O n l i n e
Stuff.co.nz
Presentation – V e r s i o n 21 0 1 P r i n t
South Waikato News
Presentation – V e r s i o n 22 0 1 Media Coverage Analysis
Organisation: South Waikato District Council Campaign/Issue: Media coverage 03 June – 26 August 2021 QUALITY RATINGS (0/1 PTS) PUBLICATION MEDIA DATE TITLE PRODUCT REACH
NAME TYPE
T T
N
TOTAL
ES
RATING
KEY
(0/1 (0/1 PT)
QUALITY
BRAND
SENTIMENT
VISUAL
MENTIO
MESSAG PRODUC
12/07 Waikato Business News Activewear startup makes its mark Print Article 161 1 1 1 1 4 Activewear startup makes its mark Article 12/07 Waikato Business News Online N/A 1 1 1 1 4 Article 14/07 Farmers Weekly Olam plans to build dairy plant in South Waikato Online 77,216 1 1 1 1 4 19/07 Farmers Weekly Olam plans to build dairy plant in South Waikato Print Article 77,216 1 1 1 1 4 20/07 SWDC Site South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa Online News Release N/A 1 1 1 1 4 South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa 20/07 SWDC Facebook Social Post 5,996 1 1 1 1 4 South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa 20/07 Raukawa Facebook Social Post 3119 1 1 1 1 4 20/07 Scoop South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa Onine Article 1 0 1 1 3 20/07 Toi Ohomai LinkedIn South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa Social Article 5,311 1 1 1 1 4 20/07 Toi Ohomai Facebook South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa Social Article 1,100 1 1 1 1 4 20/07 Toi Ohomai South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa Online Article N/A 1 1 1 1 4 20/07 Voxy South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa Onine Article N/A 1 0 1 1 3 21/07 South Waikato News South Waikato Social Pinpoint Print Advertisement 18,562 1 1 1 1 4 14/08 SWDC Facebook South Waikato Social Pinpoint Social Post 5,996 1 1 1 1 4 17/08 Waikato Business News South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa Online Article 161 1 1 1 1 4 17/08 Waikato Business News South Waikato Trades Training Centre building site blessed by Raukawa Print Article N/A 1 1 1 1 4 Leading Multinational food company set to build new dairy factory in 19/08 Stuff.co.nz Tokoroa Online Article 1,947,000 1 1 1 1 4 20/08 Waikato Times ‘A strong growing demand for NZ dairy’ Print Article 132,000 1 1 1 1 4 23/08 Stuff.co.nz New signage aims to boost outside recognition of South Waikato Online Article 1,947,000 1 1 1 1 4 25/08 South Waikato News South Waikato signs set to go Print Article 18,562 1 1 1 1 4
AVERAGE TONE AND CRITERION RATING3.9 TOTAL REACH4,329,400 NUMBER OF MEDIA ITEMS 20 BUDGET$4,000 (PR BUDGET FOR MEDIA RELATIONS)
COST PER CONTACT/OPPORTUNITY TO SEE $0.0009 (BUDGET DIVIDED BY REACH)
Presentation – V e r s i o n 23 0 1 Media Coverage Analysis
Key: Reach Total readership and daily unique browsers/viewers of a publication. The tone of each item is rated 1 for positive and 0 for negative. Tone looks at the article’s overall Sentiment perspective on the organisation, product or topic. Should be noted that tone is subjective. Product Visual The product visual is rated 1 for a visual of the client product included and 0 for no visual included. The brand mention is rated 1 for a written mention of the organisation or product and 0 for no Brand Mention mention of the brand in the text. The key messages are rated 1 if key messages from our collateral are included in the text and 0 if Key Messages they are not.
Presentation – V e r s i o n 24 0 1
Ha ilto & Waikato Touris HWT is the regio s Regio al Touris Orga isatio (RTO) whose role is to generate competitive economic benefit through visitor sector strategies focused on increasing visitor length of stay and spend. It leads destination management, destination marketing, business events & conventions, major event coordination and the Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund for the region.
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism is a subsidiary company under the Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) of Waikato Regional Airport Limited. It has a commercial board with Annabel Cotton as its Chair.
During the 2020-21 financial year, HWT was funded through a public/private partnership ith the regio s touris i dustr a d se e lo al authorities i ludi g Ha ilto Cit a d Matamata-Piako, Ōtoroha ga, Waikato, Waipā, Waitomo and South Waikato Districts.
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism has been relentless in leading the restart, recovery and reset strateg for Waikato s isitor e o o to e sure our se tor ould o e fro sur i e to thri e . From supporting our tourism and event businesses through the long-term impacts of COVID-19, using this time to reset the industry for the future, lobbying for additional Government support and executing multi-channel marketing campaigns targeting the leisure, usi ess a d e e ts arket i ke dri e a d fl arkets, including Australia when the quarantine-free travel opened.
Locals and wider Waikato residents are a key audience for our tourism businesses which make-up a third of their market. We decided to accelerate and enhance our locals campaign through the e Might Lo al platfor hi h i luded a e hot deals se tio o our website waikatonz.com to incentivise our residents to explore their own backyard on weekends and school holidays.
We continue to part er ith Touris Ne Zeala d s Do So ethi g Ne , Ne Zeala d national domestic marketing campaign to successfully drive demand, visitation and expenditure into our region. We also collaborated with a number of other regions to drive visitation and expenditure into Waikato such as our first-ever Auckland partnership and working with our Central North Island regions like Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taupo, Ruapehu and Tairawhiti Gisborne with a Get Out More NZ short-break itineraries. Our geographic location continues to drive our success with 2.6 million people living within a three-hour drive radius of our region.
The long-term economic and social impact for the tourism sector is ongoing. It has been esti ated that 4 % of Ne Zeala d s isitor e o o o es fro i ter atio al touris a d there is an expected gap of $12.9 billion in visitor expenditure. Tourism is vital to the regio s re o er ith e er $ , of touris spe d creating a job; this equates to 40 international visitors or 480 domestic overnight trips. International visitors spend on average $232 per day which is over three-times more than local residents at $74 per day or domestic travellers at $155 per day.
Compared to 2019-2020, tourism spending has increased 11% for the Waikato tourism region over 2020-2021 achieving $785 million in visitor expenditure for the year ended June 2021. Although we are seeing increased expenditure and visitation across the region, it is a very different story for the Waitomo District which continues to remain well-below industry averages with double-digit expenditure decreases and visitor numbers over 75% down compared to pre-COVID levels.
The latest figures released by the Business Events Data Programme show the Waikato region secured 13% market share of all New Zealand business events being held in Q1 2021. With 196 business events held in the region during January to March 2021, this placed the Waikato region second in the country behind Wellington at 29% for the number of meetings, conferences and exhibitions held.
Over 17,000 delegates were hosted in the region during this time, equating to a 13% market share of the total number of delegates hosted in the country, third behind Wellington (28%) and Auckland (14%).
Domestic business events delegates have always been an important visitor segment for the region contributing $480 per day to the economy, double the amount of the leisure visitor. Business events are also a key seed market driving repeat visitation and further economic benefit as delegates will often return for a holiday with their friends or family.
The first round of funding from the Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund was announced in June 2021 with $1.6 million allocated to a total of 15 events from the Waikato, Rotorua, Taupō a d Ruapehu regio s. The selected events are a mixture of new and existing and include business, sport, culture and exhibitions. In total, the events are predicted to attract over 120,000 attendees, with two-thirds being visitors from outside the host region.
Given the restart journey for the visitor economy post-COVID, Hamilton & Waikato Tourism (HWT) revised five perfor a e targets hi h are set i the S hedule of Ser i es for Lo al Government 2020-2021 . The results are pro ided elo .
➔ (Accommodation Data Programme, Year ending June 2021)
(MBIE; TECT; Year ending June 2021)
(Business Events Data Programme Q1 2021)
(As at 30 June 2021)
media outlets agents agents
hosted hosted trained (As at 30 June 2021)
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) have discontinued the Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTEs) as they were becoming unreliable within the Covid-19 environment. They have replaced the data with an interim data set capturing electronic card transactions. The key difference is that this data does not make any estimates for online or cash spending. This interim data set provides some district level information but is ore li ited that the older MRTE s. MBIE have provided three years of TECT data for comparisons.
Compared to 2020, tourism spending has increased 11% for the Waikato RTO region for the year ended June 2021.
ANNUAL VISITOR SPEND - Hamilton & Waikato Tourism Region 900
800
700
600
500
400 $millions 300
200
100
0 2019 2020 2021 Total 777 698 785
MONTHLY TOTAL SPEND: Hamilton & Waikato Waikato Tourism Region
90
80
70
60
50
40 $millions 30
20
10
0
Jul-18
Jul-19
Jul-20
Jan-21 Jan-18
Jan-19
Jan-20
Sep-18
Sep-19
Sep-20
Nov-18
Nov-19
Nov-20
Mar-18
Mar-19
Mar-21 Mar-20
May-18
May-19 May-21 May-20 Source: Tourism Electronic Card Transactions, MBIE (June 2021)
Annual visitor expenditure for South Waikato District increased 12.5% to year end June 2021. For the year ending June 2021, the visitor economy injected $56 million into South Waikato s economy (based on electronic card transactions).
South Waikato - Annual Visitor Spend
58
56
54
52
50
48
46
44 2019 2020 2021 Total 53 49 56
Source: Tourism Electronic Card Transactions, MBIE (June 2021)
The new atio al ed ights easure e t tool, the Accommodation Data Programme (ADP) began providing monthly measurements from June 2020.
South Waikato District has 10 commercial accommodation providers contributing data into this programme (unlike the old Commercial Accommodation Monitor, this is not a legal requirement). The occupancy rate for South Waikato accommodation providers in June 2021 was 40.3%. In comparison, the Waikato region achieved 47.1% and the national occupancy was 40%. People stayed an average of two nights per visit/stay. This resulted in 3,700 guest nights in June 2021. For the 12 months up to and including June 2021, South Waikato achieved 55,700 guest nights.
Average Nights stayed per guest Occupancy Rate Guest Nights 10,000 2.7 60 9,000 2.5 55 8,000 2.3 50 7,000 2.1 45 6,000
1.9 40 5,000
1.7 35 4,000 3,000 1.5 30
2,000
Jul-20
Jul-20
Jan-21
Jun-20
Jun-21
Oct-20
Apr-21
Sep-20
Feb-21
Jan-21
Jun-21
Jun-20
Dec-20
Aug-20
Oct-20
Apr-21
Nov-20
Sep-20
Feb-21
Mar-21
Dec-20
Aug-20
Nov-20
May-21
Mar-21
May-21
Jul-20
Jan-21
Jun-20
Jun-21
Oct-20
Apr-21
Sep-20
Feb-21
Dec-20
Aug-20
Nov-20 Mar-21 Average Nights Stayed NZ Occupancy Rate NZ May-21 Average Nights Stayed HWT Occupancy Rate HWT Guest Nights South Waikato Average Nights Stayed South Waikato Occupancy Rate South Waikato Linear (Guest Nights South Waikato) Source: Accommodation Data Plan, MBIE (June 2021)
South Waikato District also had 41 properties listed on AirBnB during June 2021 as alternative accommodation to the traditional commercial offerings. This is an increase from 38 listings in June 2020.
These properties experienced 40% occupancy during June 2021. For the 12 months May 2020 to June 2021, the average occupancy rate for AirBnB properties in South Waikato was 41%.
AirBnB - Active Rentals AirBnB - Occupancy Rate AirBnB - Monthly Revenue
51 80% $2,000 49 70% 47 60% $1,500 45 50% 43 40% $1,000 41 30% 39 20% $500 37 10%
35 0% $-
Jan-20
Jun-20
Oct-18
Apr-21
Jan-20
Aug-19
Jun-20
Nov-20
Nov-20
Nov-19
Nov-18
Oct-18
Mar-19
Apr-21
May-21
May-20
May-19
May-18 May-18
Aug-19
Nov-20
Mar-19 May-18 South Waikato South Waikato South Waikato Source: AirDNA (June 2021)
External domestic markets: Open for Exploration Campaign Our do esti arketi g a paig , Ope for E ploratio , ra fro Ju e to August targeting our key drive markets.
Hot Deals platform HWT launched a free, user-ge erated platfor desig ed to sho ase operators latest pro otio s, e perie es, deals a d i for atio to HWT s o su er audie e while optimising their Google My Business (GMB) posts at the same time.
The platform integrates a wide variety of Waikato businesses – from activities and accommodation to tour operators, as well as retail and hospitality providers. Businesses are able to upload their own offer, experience, deal or upcoming event through the platform and the information displays on waikatonz.com as well as their Google business listing. HWT understands this to be the first platform in NZ that allows for this to happen, providing time and process-efficiencies for operators across the two channels.
Exter al do estic arkets: Su er It s just agic! campaign Our Su er i spiratio a paig It s just agi , was live November to December. Like the rest of New Zealand, we have never had to promote the region to domestic visitors over the summer period as our tourism operators are normally busy with international visitors.
Internal domestic market: Christmas Campaign - Gift Guide Our annual Christmas Gift Guide campaign launched into the local Waikato market on 30 November and concluded on 21 December.
Internal domestic market: Su er It s just agic! Ca paig The Su er E plore Your O Ba k ard a paig launched in late December and ran through January. The online campaign featured domestic operator partners and the regio s natural assets.
Get Out More NZ Domestic Campaign – Central North Island collective For the first time, HWT partnered with our neighbouring regions Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taupe, Ruapehu and Tairā hiti Gisborne in the domestic market. The first phase of the Get out More NZ a paig ran from September until mid-December with the second phase running from late March until late May 2021.
Love This, Love That Campaign – Auckland JV For the first time, we partnered with Auckland RTO on a joint campaign to encourage residents to enjoy experiences in their extended backyard. The campaign launched on 22 March and ran through until late April.
Internal domestic market: Mighty Locals Campaign This campaign launched in early May and ran until late June, running across Google Display Network and Facebook.
Tourism New Zealand - Urban Experiences Campaign As a region with a main metro, we worked with Tourism New Zealand and the other four main cities across the country (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin) on an Urban Experiences campaign to encourage city visitation through short breaks and holidays. The first phase of the campaign launched mid-October The second phase of this campaign went live mid-January until the end of February 2021 and Ha ilto as Touris Ne Zeala d s top perfor i g it for the Ur a Leisure campaign with a referral rate of 36%.
Tourism New Zealand - summer campaign Tourism New Zealand worked with Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) across the country to develop the content for their summer campaign. The production crew visited the Waikato during early October filming in three lo atio s to sho ase differe t a s to do so ethi g e i the regio o er summer. Surfing in Raglan was a key feature of the creative, as well as visiting Hamilton Gardens and kayaking with Lake District Adventures. This campaign launched into market late No e er to pla off the a k of their fire ork song launch in early November in which the region also features.
Content Creators Project HWT worked with Tourism New Zealand and social media agency Socialites on a content creation project. The programme matched micro-influencers around New Zealand with operators in each region who needed assistance with creating visual content for their social media channels.
Regional Events HWT supported regional events throughout the year by profiling them in campaign activity, on social media and with coverage on waikatonz.com. Events are an important driver for domestic visitation as well as local expenditure, and post-COVID they provide great reasons for repeat visitation to a region. The events section of waikatonz.com has ranked amongst the most visited sections of the site illustrating that the interest and demand for events remains high.
Summer Events A spe ifi Waikato Su er E e ts Guide a paig lau hed mid-January and concluded mid-February after running for four weeks.
Fieldnights Campaign In support of Fieldays we implemented our annual Field ights ampaign. This campaign is designed to encourage exhibitors and visitors who are in the region for Fieldays to explore more while they are here, whether that be on tourism experiences or dining out at local eateries. This small campaign launched the first week of June and ran until the conclusion of the Fieldays event on 18 June.
The Apprentice Aotearoa HWT partnered with Great Southern Television and Hamilton City Council on a task challenge for episode three of The Apprentice Aotearoa. Classics Museum and Hamilton Gardens were featured, plus Mayor Paula Southgate and HWT CE Jason Dawson were panel judges.
Matariki Events Campaign A new initiative this year was the creation of a spe ifi Waikato Matariki E e ts a paig which launched in early June and will conclude at the end of July to coincide with Matariki from 11 June – 31 July. Supporting the Matariki Ki Waikato festival, this campaign is targeting Waikato residents encouraging them to participate in events happening across the region to celebrate the Māori New Year.
Annual Visitor Guide 50,000 copies of the 2021 Official Regional Visitor Guide were distributed in late December 2020. This is a reduced number from the 2020 distribution due to the impacts of COVID-19 and international borders being closed. The guides have proven popular as NZers travel through their own backyard, with national distribution through i-SITEs and airports, displays at visitor attractions, used at trade shows, and conference delegate packs. This guide remains a cost-neutral project with discounted advertising sales (out of recognition of the impact of COVID on industry) funding the production and distribution of the guide.
Media Post-lockdown, we have had a successful year for domestic travel media coverage with a number of media pitches, famils and hosting. Domestic media platforms and publications are content hungry and we have leveraged this opportunity. Coverage includes content in: • Kia Ora magazine • NZ Herald Travel Supplements • NZ House & Garden • Cuisine magazine • NewsHub • Good magazine • AA Directions • MindFood • Coverage across the Stuff network in print and online
Virtual International Media Marketplace Australia HWT attended the Virtual International Media Marketplace event on 5 -6 May. The AU/NZ media focused event highlighted trends and changes in the media industry and featured a series of speaker sessions.
The arketpla e is a e hi itio -style event that brings top Australian and New Zealand travel journalists and freelancers together for a series of 16 x 15min appointments. We are currently working through media opportunities that have resulted from the event in collaboration with our neighbouring regions.
While no physical training or sales activity with international travel trade has been possible (on or offshore), we have continued to undertake virtual trade training and promotional activities throughout the year. This resulted in over 1,200 travel sellers (wholesalers, product managers, frontlines OTAs, home-based agents) across the globe being trained on the Waikato.
Webinars • TNZ North America – Relaxation & Romance webinar • TNZ Australia Virtual Famil • TNZ South East Asia Virtual Road Trip • TNZ Korea Webinar • TNZ Japan Webinar • ECNI Kiwi Trade Chat • Southern World Trade Training • TNZ UK/Europe – Wildlife webinar: The Waikato was selected to be the only RTO to prese t to 4 tra el sellers arou d the UK/Europe i TNZ s Wildlife e i ar. HWT presented on the wildlife experiences available in the Waikato including Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and trade-ready experiences that showcase glowworms such as Waitomo operators and Lake District Adventures. • Explore Central North Island webinars: HWT took part in two ECNI webinars for the NZ and AU markets in early December – the first being a Thermal Explorer Highway overview/update and the second being a dedicated Waikato webinar. For the dedicated webinar HWT provided a regional overview and we invited a selection of trade-ready operators to provide updates on their businesses through live crosses so viewers could see and hear what was happening in real time and provided an interactive element. • ANZCRO Webinar: Part of a wider JV initiative with ANZCRO – webinar session to train agents and support ANZCRO in promotion of the region and the development of Waikato packages. This webinar went live to 77 Australian agents – and the full 137 registrations received the link to watch again or share. A new Waikato blog page on ANZCRO site was also created. The webinar featured a regional 101, product updates, and a live cross and virtual tours with Hobbiton Movie Set and THL/Ruakuri Cave, as well as a virtual tour of Hamilton Gardens. This was presented from Hidden Lake Hotel in Cambridge.
Accor Famil We hosted an Accor-organised famil in November with 12 key Inbound Tour Operators (ITOs). As a result, several of the ITOs have reached out about follow-up opportunities and itinerary creation for their NZ-based clients and international clients when borders open.
JV campaign with Flight Centre NZ HWT partnered with Flight Centre NZ in December on a week-long content promotion though Flight Ce tre s ra ds Flight Ce tre, Tra el Asso iates a d Tra el Ma agers a d retail stores.
TRENZ The touris i dustr s largest i ter atio al u i g a d selli g e e t TRENZ did ot happe due to the continued international border closure.
Instead, TRENZ Hui was held in May where 750+ people from across the industry came together for two days of strategy sessions and industry workshops. While it as t like the traditio al selli g trade sho , it as an opportunity to connect on a large scale and plan for the future of the sector.
A summary of specific trade and leisure marketing for South Waikato District is detailed below.
Target market Campaign or activity South Waikato experiences profiled
Media – Media hosting and famils profiling Lake District Adventures, domestic & South Waikato: Waikato River Trails, Blue Spring - Te Waihou Walkway, international • Good Magazine famil Over the Moon Cheese famils • NewsHub famil • Stuff.co.nz Roadie • Bare Kiwi • NZ Herald famil • Cuisine Magazine famil • Mike Yardley • Kia Ora Magazine
Target market Campaign or activity South Waikato experiences profiled
Media - South Waikato was profiled as part of Tirau township, Lake domestic regional promotions in the following District Adventures, publications: Waikato River Trails, Blue • NZ Herald Travel Supplements Spring - Te Waihou • Avenues Magazine Walkway, Over the Moon • Family Times Cheese • Stuff.co.nz • NewsHub • Cuisine Magazine • Good Magazine • Lets Travel • MindFood • For the love of travel • NewsTalk ZB • Kia Ora Magazine
Travel Trade – Trade training webinars including: Trade-ready products: Lake webinars • TNZ UK/Europe District Adventures, • TNZ SEA Virtual Road Trip Waikato River Trails • TNZ Korea • TNZ Japan • ANZCRO Waikato • TNZ Virtual Expo • Southern World Virtual Trade Training Event
Travel Trade – HWT are part of the Central North Island Trade-ready products: Lake Explore Central RTO allia e k o as E plore Ce tral District Adventures, North Island North Isla d hi h i ludes the t o Waikato River Trails Alliance touring routes – The Thermal Explorer Highway and the Pacific Coast Highway. Trade training webinars Dec: • Thermal Explorer highlights • Waikato region update • ECNI 'Kiwi Chat' virtual trade expo
Domestic • School Holidays – Sept 2020, April 21 Lake District Adventures, consumer - • Hot Deals – Oct 2020 & Jan 2021 Waikato River Trails, Local, Hamilton • Christmas Gift Guide – Dec 2020 Cougar Mountain Bike Park, & Waikato • Locals – It s just agi ! Dec 20–Jan 21 Blue Spring - Te Waihou • Get Out More NZ – phase 1 and 2 Walkway • Summer Events – Jan – Feb 2021 • Mighty Locals – May – June 2021 • Fieldnights – June 2021 • Matariki Events – June – July 2021
Target market Campaign or activity South Waikato experiences profiled
Domestic • Open for Exploration Campaign Lake District Adventures, Waikato consumer - – Jul-Aug 2020 River Trails, Blue Spring - Te External Drive & • School Holidays – Sep 20 & Apr Waihou Walkway Fly Markets 21 • Hot Deals – Oct 20 & Jan 21 • It s just agi ! Nov–Dec 20 • Summer Events Jan–Feb 21 • Love This, Love That Auckland Campaign • Fieldnights – June 2021
Domestic Ongoing campaign activity has Jim Barnett Reserve, Blue Spring - consumer – continued through our Weibo Te Waihou Walkway, Waikato Chinese New social media channel, blogs, forums River Trails, Cougar Mountain Bike Zealanders etc Park, One Road Ice Cream Company, Bosco Café, Dining options in South Waikato (Alley Cats Café, Cabbage Tree Café, Poppy's Café, Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel, Bugger Café, The BAKER, Tucker Bar and Eatery, Lola & Co Café, Enchanted Café, Twisted Café, The Cook, Rhubarb Cafe, The Wooden Farmer, Bella Pane, The Cow Café, Great Flavours of India, Sweet Rose Espresso, Rumbly Tums, Alberico's Tokoroa, Rice & Spice Indian Restaurant, Robert Harris Tokoroa, G & T Restaurant Tokoroa Club, Nexus Wine & Café)
Domestic & 2021 Hamilton & Waikato Regional South Waikato district and towns International Visitor Guide profiled i Regio al highlights consumer and a d South Waikato se tio s trade Waikato Walking Guide Tokoroa Talking Poles, Blue Spring - The Te Waihōu Walk a .
Waikato Cycle Guides Waikato River Trails, Cougar Mountain Bike Park, Arapuni Village, Huihuitaha Wetland boardwalk, Arapuni Suspension Bridge, Rhubarb Café, Arapuni Hydro Power Station
Target market Campaign or activity South Waikato experiences profiled
Domestic & Quarterly e-newsletters The Taniwha, Blue Spring - Te Waihou international distributed to our consumer, Walkway, Lake District Adventures, consumer, trade and media databases Dining options in South Waikato travel trade and media
Domestic & South Waikato profiled through Dave Dobbyn - Open Up Tour - The International HWT s ebsite and various Plaza Putaruru, Jim Barnett Reserve, consumer social profiles including Putaruru Christmas Parade, Lake Facebook, Instagram, Twitter District Adventures, Talking Poles, & YouTube Waikato River Trails, Lake Moananui Reserve, Blue Spring - Te Waihou Walkway, Big Sheep and Big Ram Tirau, Cougar Mountain Bike Park, One Road Ice cream Company, The Taniwha, Over the Moon Cheese, Dog friendly walks in South Waikato, Dining options in South Waikato (Alley Cats Café, Cabbage Tree Café, Poppy's Café, Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel, Bugger Café, The BAKER, Tucker Bar and Eatery, Lola & Co Café, Enchanted Café, Twisted Café, The Cook, Rhubarb Cafe, The Wooden Farmer, Bella Pane, The Cow Café, Great Flavours of India, Sweet Rose Espresso, Rumbly Tums, Alberico's Tokoroa, Rice & Spice Indian Restaurant, Robert Harris Tokoroa, G & T Restaurant Tokoroa Club, Nexus Wine & Café) Arapuni hydroelectric power station, Bosco Cafe, That Weeke d e e t
Conference leads and rehousing During the 2020-21 financial year, Business Events Waikato managed 18 leads, four bid document requests and 50 referrals as well as some basic assist requests such as supplying regional imagery. Our business events team successfully relocated 16 business events after Jet Park Hotel Hamilton Airport became a designated Managed Isolation Facility earlier in the year and we were able to re-house most of the events within the Waikato.
We are fortunate the Waikato is predominantly a domestic conference destination and easy to get to from key markets. Our marketing activity is focused on multi-day association and the corporate conference market.
Unfortunately, three of our largest commercial accommodation providers are now unavailable as they are Managed Isolation Facilities which has impacted on the conference market, significantly reducing our offer for larger multi-day association conferences. Hosting some of these conferences is now very challenging due to limited accommodation availability.
In addition to our limited commercial accommodation inventory, the biggest threat to the conference market is uncertainty. Event organisers cannot confidently book conference venues and accommodation, plus they are afraid of the force majeure clauses in contracts. Currently venues are experiencing short lead-in times which brings its own challenges.
Business Events Waikato Showcase The Business Events Waikato Showcase scheduled for 24th September 2020 had to be cancelled due to the change in COVID-19 alert levels. The business events team have rebooked this event to be held on 23rd September 2021. The target market for this event will be local organisers, meeting planners, EAs and PAs based within driving distance of the Waikato. We will predominantly target corporates who organise one day meetings through to multi-day conferences and events.
Convention Bureau activity Summary of specific conference marketing activity (1 July 2020 to 31 June 2021)
Activity Detail
Enquiries 86 enquiries managed
Buyers • International Hobbit Day - 5 Waikato PCOs Hosted • Pre BE:Reconnected dinner – 6 hosted buyers • Bespoke famils – 4 local buyer famils hosted • Wellington Soiree – 50 buyers, co-hosted with 6 BE partners • Pre-MEETINGS dinner – 7 buyers, co-hosted with three BE partners • Local buyer famils – 6 postponed March 2022 • Mega Famil – 1 postponed until Nov 2021
Trade • AuSAE LINC – shared site with Dunedin business events Shows & • BE:Reconnected – BEIA Event • Office & PA Show – shared site ith Ho ito ™ Mo ie Set Attendance • Association X + Business Exchange • MEETINGS – Australasian trade show in Auckland • AuSAE Networking Lunch, Auckland • AuSAE BA4, Auckland • AAPNZ Waikato annual breakfast – Abby Camp represented • AAPNZ BA5s throughout the year
BE partner • BEW partner zoom activity • Reunite Industry Dinner • Christmas partner breakfast • BEW sustainability breakfast • Hobbiton event • Gold partner catch ups • HWT Symposium
Campaigns • WBN quarterly advertorial & • Pre-MEETINGS LinkedIn campaign advertising • Preview Mag advertorial (pre-MEETINGS magazine) • Meetings Newz advertising • BEW Directory • www.meetwaikato.com • HWT Industry Newsletter – BE inclusion • Locals LinkedIn campaign • Mighty Waikato Campaign – phase 1 July, phase 2 Dec 2020
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism has been instrumental in leading the restart, recovery and reset of the regional tourism and events sector. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were swift and severe for the entire visitor economy which includes tourism businesses, activities and attractions, accommodation providers, retail and hospitality, transport operators, conferences and business events, major events and venues, education institutions, plus the many suppliers who partner with the sector.
There are a number of key initiatives underway to support the rebuild and reset of Waikato s touris se tor.
The $230m Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme (STAPP) was announced in the Go er e t s udget i Ma 2020 to protect the assets in the tourism landscape that form the core of our essential tourism offerings to ensure their survival through the disruption caused by COVID-19. Grants and loans were allocated to tourism businesses, Inbound Tour Operators and Regional Tourism Organisations.
TOURISM BUSINESSES 130 tourism businesses received a total of $261m in support comprised of a mix of grants and loads. The Waikato region were successful with initial funding support provided to the following tourism businesses:
• Discover Waitomo: up to $4m over two years (year one will be a grant and year two will be a loan if required) • Ōtoroha ga Ki i House: $500,000 • Waitomo Adventures: $500,000 • Spellbound Glowworm and Cave Tour, Waitomo: 401,440 • Caveworld Waitomo: $290,000
REGIONAL TOURISM ORGANISATIONS Hamilton & Waikato Tourism successfully applied for a maximum of $700,000 to address the significant shortfall in industry investment. They criteria for applying for the grant was to retain existing local government investment.
The financial support could only be used to enhance work from the Aotearoa New Zealand Government Tourism Strategy in the following three priority areas:
1. domestic marketing; 2. industry capability; and 3. adopting a destination management approach.
Out of the 27 programmes of work we successfully received funding under the three tagged areas listed above, 11 were collaboration projects with other regions which border the Waikato.
Specific STAPP projects we have completed include:
▪ Review and refresh of touring routes (collaboration project with Visit Ruapehu and Destination Rotorua) - completed ▪ Co-curate and development of food tourism experiences, including itineraries, marketing initiatives and product development (collaboration project with Destination Rotorua) – complete and action plan developed ▪ Domestic marketing to build demand and attract visitation to the district, including event promotion and a joint Auckland drive market campaign with Auckland Unlimited (previously ATEED) - completed ▪ Participation in the national and Central North Island domestic marketing campaigns driving visitation into the district - completed ▪ Regional tourism marketing advisory services for tourism businesses - completed ▪ Launching a regenerative tourism leadership programme to enhance sustainability initiatives for tourism operators - completed
All other proje ts fro parti ipatio ith Touris Ne Zeala d s atio al do esti marketing campaign, partnerships with AA Traveller and the NZ Motor Caravan Association through to procurement of visitor travel data, will benefit the city and wider region as well.
In addition to the $20.2 million in grants that was allocated to RTOs through the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme (STAPP) by the Government in 2020/2021, the $26 million Tourism Communities: Support, Recovery and Re-set Plan was announced in May for RTOs to manage, plan, promote, and market tourism activities in their regions. This funding is for the 2021/2022 financial year.
As a medium-large RTOs with a local government contribution of $1 million to $3 million, HWT are eligible to receive up to $1 million.
This funding support is available for a programme of activity across three categories and appropriatel s aled to the RTO s eeds, priorities a d agreed i est e t pla ; 1. Destination Management & Planning 2. Industry Capacity Building and Product Development • Engaging specialist support to assist with planning, industry capability building and product development; • To provide capacity to implement the work programme across the three categories; • RTO capability building including participation in MBIE-RTNZ forums and events; and • Feasibility and business case development (please specify the specific opportunities). 3. Domestic and International Marketing. • Tactical domestic marketing activity including creative development, enhancing digital platforms, media buying, and PR activity; • Tactical international marketing activity that complements Tourism New Zeala d s arketi g a ti ities i ludi g reati e de elop e t, e ha i g digital platforms, media buying, and PR activity; • Event and business event promotion (eg. promotion of venues, events, marketing); This work must be completed by using RTO staff, or by external capability.
On 17th August 2021, Minister of Tourism, Hon Stuart Nash, visited the Waikato and announced our Tourism Reset Investment Plan application was successful and we will receive $1 million to undertake the activities listed above and implement the new regional Destination Management Plan.
Destination management brings together different stakeholders to achieve the common goal of developing a well-managed, sustainable visitor destination. It is an ongoing process that requires destinations to plan for the future and considers the social, economic, cultural and environmental risks and opportunities.
Adopting a destination management approach enables communities and destinations to respond to changing conditions and determine the type of tourism they would like to have and the benefits they would like to receive, taking an active role in managing these.
Destination management requires a holistic and integrated approach with three interdependent components:
1. Visitor Experience: the Waikato s e perie e offeri g, i ludi g a ti ities, attractions, supporting infrastructure, services and amenities.
2. Marketing and Promotion: the desti atio s arketi g a d pro otio al a ti it , creating demand and enabling the destination to be competitive, productive and sustainable.
3. Resource Management: the regio s strateg , poli a d regulator fra e orks, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, co-governance arrangements, organisational structures and the investments that support the destination.
We have successfully managed to attract funding from the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment to undertake this work. After the first round of stakeholder consultation, a Draft Waikato Destination Management Plan will be released for a second round shortly.
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism know that hosting major and business events are crucial to lead the economic and social recovery of the Waikato region. Tourism New Zealand research indicates that up to one-third of domestic travel is primarily driven by people looking to participate in events.
Post-COVID, the national funding made available has enabled us to activate our Regional Major Events Strategy.
Regional Events Fund – Thermal Explorer Highway The four regions of the Thermal Explorer Highway collective including Waikato, Rotorua, Taupō a d Ruapehu were approved $3.75 million for regional events by Tourism Minister Stuart Nash on 18 December 2020.
The Regio al Touris Orga isatio s RTOs fro Waikato, Rotorua, Taupō a d Ruapehu, alongside their council partners, worked together on developing a collaborative regional events investment plan for the next 2-3 years to drive additional domestic visitation into their regions.
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism were selected as the Lead Entity for the Regional Events Fund across the four regions. We see the olla oratio et ee Waikato, Rotorua, Taupō a d Ruapehu will lead to a strong and compelling event proposition for our four regions, who also partnered together for the Domestic Events Fund.
The bulk of the $3.75 million fund will be used to create a contestable fund with successful events being supported over a three-year period. The focus will be on the development of iconic or anchor events, with a mix of new and expansion of existing events. Another portion of the funding will be used to run capability building workshops and training for event organisers and suppliers, plus develop or update existing regional event strategies; with the remainder to cover administration, legal and event measurement.
The first round of funding from the Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund was announced in June 2021 with $1.6 million allocated to a total of 15 events from the Waikato, Rotorua, Taupō a d Ruapehu regio s.
The selected events are a mixture of new and existing and include business, sport, culture and exhibitions. In total, the events are predicted to attract over 120,000 attendees, with two-thirds being visitors from outside the host region. The second round for the Contestable Fund will open in February 2022.
The Government provided funding for subsidised business advice services under the COVID Business Recovery Programme. In the Waikato region, this was delivered through the Regional Business Partner (RBP) programme with Te Waka. Hamilton & Waikato Tourism were sub-contracted to Te Waka for three months to provide advice and support for tourism businesses. In total, 77 tourism businesses were supported through the RBP programme.
The Waikato Regional Council has decided to allocate one of its first grants from the Regional Development Fund to Hamilton & Waikato Tourism. Over the next three financial years, $575,000 will be granted to HWT to establish a Waikato Film Office – to be called Waikato S ree .
Waikato Screen will be established as a separate entity and be co-located with HWT for the next three years. HWT will then contract Waikato Screen to undertake the role of a Regional Film Office including marketing activities to showcase Waikato as a desirable screen destination. They will also work alongside prospective filmmakers to facilitate their needs from film permits through to post-production, creating sustainable employment opportunities within Waikato.
On behalf of the board and management of Hamilton & Waikato Tourism, we would like to sincerely thank South Waikato District Council for their support over the previous decade.
We wish you well for the future.
Jason Dawson Chief Executive Hamilton & Waikato Tourism August 2021
Six Monthly Update January – July 2021
Executive Summary
As another six-month period transitions Te Waka to the end of the 2020/2021 financial year, efforts have continued to facilitate and advance economic wellbeing across the region.
This year has seen Te Waka kaupapa focus on developing a new structure and approach to enact a stronger and more responsive partnership model with key stakeholders. Critical to this has been the continued commitment of Waikato Councils, identified through their Long-Term Plan processes. Central government has also provided avenues to activate investment across our communities and the creation of a strategic partners advisory group ill support Te Waka s dri e for regio al olla oratio goi g for ard.
Sector work programmes designed in conjunction with industry leaders continue to focus on a collective response to reduce barriers for Construction, Logistics & Distribution, Innovation, and International Education, in order to fully realise growth opportunities.
Our usi ess support offeri gs ha e o ti ued to tautoko the regio s usi ess o u it after COVID s atio al lockdown response with $10.2 million being issued this year to build resilience and capability. The Regional Business Partners programme (RBP) has opened the door to over 2000 enterprises in the last 12 months. While the contract to deliver the RBP has extended for another six months until the end of 2021, the team are looking forward to expanding its reach and impact in the Waikato.
Te Waka s grassroot approa h to ri g edu atio opportu ities to usi esses i ea h district, saw a partnership with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to coordinate the Digital Boost programme locally which hosted 11 workshops with over 260 business leaders participating.
The Waikato s Busi ess Me tor NZ progra e o ti ues to be held up as the premium example of enterprise matches with 108 businesses now signed up and paired with a mentor since July 2020.
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Six Monthly Update January – July 2021
January brought a significant milestone for Te Waka with a Memorandum of Understanding being signed with Waikato Tainui, a solid workplan is now progressing to enhance social procurement models in the region and to identify collective trade responses to opportunities.
Intelligence and data collection has been a strong foundation for telling the Waikato Story, while highlighting key sector opportunities and barriers. The first Business Sentiment Survey was conducted in August 2020 and later followed with the second survey in February 2021 showing a significant increase in confidence in the Waikato economy with a net confident score of -14% moving to 11%. The support of Waikato Regional Council to gather and collate intelligence in partnership with Te Waka continues to be appreciated.
While Te Waka s fo us has ee out ard fa i g, it is i porta t to ote that i ter al ha ges have also occurred, a d re ruit e t has ee a fo us to resour e a d deli er upo Te Waka s strateg a d to reate ea i gful impact for the region. Most recently we have created a new position to support operations with Suzanne Lorenz starting in July 2021 as Operations Manager and Rosie Spragg is due to start on 1 September as the Industry & Sector Manager. We are also continuing our search for a Regional Engagement Manager to lead our sub regional engagement program.
Hamish Bell
Board Chair
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Six Monthly Update January – July 2021
Outli ed elo is a su ar a ti it report alig ed to Te Waka s strateg
Sector Development
Logistics and Distribution A report has been commissioned by Te Waka on behalf of industry within Waikato and Bay of Plenty. The purpose of the report to better define the issues and opportunities in the sector and summarise those in a concise way, the report by Ernst Young is now in the final stages with a draft report due 5 August after completing all stakeholder interviews, this report will be sent to the Advisory Group for review and feedback before being finalised and circulated, with the process planned to be completed by early September.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Transport is now planning to conduct regional workshops from mid- August to the end of September to develop a NZ Freight and Supply Chain Strategy, in which Te Waka has been invited to participate and contribute insights from our own sector work.
Construction The last forum meeting recommended investigating existing initiatives around sector skills development and financing to help inform and shape planned workstreams.
A workshop facilitated by Doug Wilson (Deloitte) will now take place in August to define the problem areas around infrastructure investment and investigate potential solutions.
A further workstream around the promotion of the region as desirable destination for skilled labour is planned for September and will coordinate with MBIE and RSLG members who are focused on workplace skills in the Waikato labour market.
International Education Te Waka continues to deliver on the International Education Strategy, recently completing a draft of the Sustainable Model report.
Members from the Advisory Group and representatives from Te Waka attended an Education NZ mini fair held in Auckland on 9 & 10 June, with collateral for promoting the Waikato being developed.
The Destination Waikato pillar of the strategy is progressing with a formal written brief and RFP document is being finalised for Hamilton agencies relati g to a paig ollateral de elop e t for Desti atio Waikato .
Along with this funding has been received from ENZ for Te Waka to work with their PR agency for the creation of Regional Stories to support positive public perception of international students.
There has been ongoing communication with ENZ to discuss the status of International Education Plan initiatives and potential ongoing funding.
We are now beginning a small project to quantify the current value of international education to the Waikato region, which can be used to inform discussion and decision-making, especially around investment and resourcing.
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Six Monthly Update January – July 2021
IT/Innovation The Tech and Innovation Sector survey was conducted in partnerships with Hamilton City Council, Gallagher and Cultivate IT with results published in March 2021. The purpose of the survey is to understand the size and shape of the sector along with a perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing business in a COVID-19 environment. Survey results painted a positive picture with 92 percent of participants expecting their business to improve over the next three years.
A meeting of key stakeholders held on 25 May agreed that the region required an industry body to own and lead industry activity, it was proposed that Cultivate IT is repurposed and reinvigorated, being relaunched with a fresh definition of what it covers without losing the brand equity already created and utilising any value of the existing framework.
The agreed purpose of this new entity: − Alig essagi g a out Waikato s te h se tor to i rease a are ess, parti ipatio , a d i est e t − Our points of difference are authenticity, making a difference, collaboration and thinking big
It is planned to create a Trust e tit that ould e a ed Culti ate , targeted for Septe er for atio , with a remit to: − Promote tech as a field of study − Coordinate government and education actions − Create investment − Do anything else to promote technology − Not intended to do charitable endeavours
Other sector activities: Looking Ahead: Industry & Sector Manager position being filled by Rosie Spragg from 1 September.
Māori Economic Development Te Waka s goal to ork alo gside I i, Hapu a d Māori e terprises to realise e o o i aspiratio s for all Māori within the Waikato rohe continues, with working partnerships developed with Tainui Waka affiliated Iwi, local and central government agencies as well as key Māori lead organisations across the region.
The last 6 months has seen a transition from a strategy development phase to an implementation one. The signed MOU with Waikato Tainui in January has seen the development and implementation of an agreed work plan, with an emphasis on supporting the capacity building of businesses lead by Tainui tribal members, to a level that would allow them to participate within the central government developed supplier diversity framework. A secondary consideration is the development of a live database that will identify businesses owned by Tainui tribal members A focus on providing pre and post treaty settlement support has allowed the opportunity to introduce the various et orks a d ser i es a aila le to Te Waka a ross the rohe, ith Ngāti Hi era gi i particular taking advantage of this support as they have looked to develop their economic aspirations post settlement.
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Six Monthly Update January – July 2021
Activities to date:
• Supporti g the de elop e t of the o stru tio olle ti e Waikato Trade Colle ti e , a olle ti e of appro i atel Māori o ed trades ho are looki g to parti ipate ithi the Tier housi g development arena. • Supporting Te Riu o Waikato s e o o i aspiratio s a ross Rāhui Pōkeka fa ilitati g fu di g appli atio s ith Te Pu i Kōkiri. • Supporting Nikau Constructions $2.9 million application for MFE funding for the installation of a concrete recycling plant at the old power station site in Meremere. • Re ei ed o ti ued support fro Ka oa to support our Māori E o o i De elop e t progra e of work.
Looking ahead: Continued discussion to formalize partnerships and creation of agreed work plans with Tainui Waka affiliated Iwi.
De elop e t of further Māori led olle ti es that a parti ipate ithi the go er e t supplier di ersit framework.
Continued creation and identification of frameworks and expertise that can support the economic aspiration of pre and post settlement Iwi.
Regional Business Support Network Te Waka is the delivery agency for the Waikato Region of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Regional Business Programme (RBP), Callaghan Innovation programmes and Business Mentors.
The second half of 2020 saw a further extension of Go er e t s Co id-19 business support package and by the end of October 2020, the COVID-19 support, and Tourism Transition funding was fully allocated in the Waikato region. This resulted in a huge profile rise for the Regional Business Partner Network.
The first half of 2021 saw the Business Growth team exceptionally busy, with a lot of re-engagement from new and existing businesses to see where Te Waka could next support them in their business journey, whether it be mentoring, R&D, capability building, or connections and support to further grow their business or mitigate challenges that COVID-19 bought.
Activities to date over the previous 12months • O er usi esses ere et, a d the ajorit re ei ed so e le el of fu di g or further o e tio s. • A total of $ . of support as pro ided to Waikato usi esses. This as ade up of RBP, Ma age e t Capability; $500k, Tourism Transition $560k, COVID Advisory $5.1m, Callaghan Innovation $4.1m.
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Six Monthly Update January – July 2021
• Callagha I o atio a ti ities a ross Waikato businesses continues at twice the pace of any previous year with project grants, student support and the R&D loan package all being delivered through this period.
• 108 Mentees were matched with Business Mentors.
• I part ership ith Digital Boost, 11 workshops were delivered across the region in June 2021.
• Hu s a ross the Waikato regio , i 6 differe t lo atio s, have regained consistency with resumed face-to- face meetings. However, virtual meetings continue to be an efficient delivery method as business owners gained more confidence in going digital.
• Busi ess tre ds sho s that Digital E a le e t, Gro th Strategies, R&D, a d HR/Leadership de elop e t are current key needs Looking ahead: Re-secure the Regional Business Partner contract for the next 5 years
Gather Intelligence Share Insights and Advocate Economic Radar & Quarterly Report publications have continued with the support of Waikato Regional Council, Principal Economist Blair Keenan
Waikato Business Sentiment Survey April 2021 results published, the second survey was conducted by Te Waka in partnership with local authorities, chambers of commerce, regional tourism operators, business associations and other economic development organisations. The March 2021 sentiment survey shows business owners and a agers are sig ifi a tl ore opti isti a out their se tor a d the regio s e o o i perfor a e tha the ere si o ths ago, ut re ail less o fide t i the ou tr s e o o i perfor a e.
Looking Ahead: Te Waka will complete the Waikato Business Sentiment Survey as an annual survey with both the Economic Radar and Quarterly updates by Blair Keenan to be completed every 3 months.
The Waikato Story Te Waka continues to manage and maintain the Waikato.com platform as a one-stop-shop of information for business in the Waikato.
Over 30 stories have been published to the site from various stakeholders in the Jan-June 2021 period.
Looking Ahead: Continue to develop content for the Waikato Story aligned to the sector activities and in collaboration with partners to meet the needs of industry in profiling the Waikato.
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Six Monthly Update January – July 2021
Build Connections and Partnerships; and Drive Collaboration Te Waka continues to partner with Waikato Regional Council as they lead the Regional Economic Development Strategy, a refreshed version of the original Waikato Means Business. As part of this process District Profiles have been created to fully recognise opportunities, strengths, and alignment across sub-regions
Communication with the Economic Development community across the region continues to be free flowing and highlights the commitment, vibrancy and policy making enabling both business development and economic wellbeing occurring in the Waikato.
Economic Development Manager forums have been held quarterly with a continued focus on a joint regional strategy and investigations into Central Government investment opportunities. This process has also seen an Opportunities List created to advance regional discussions with Kanoa.
District visits through the Business Growth Team have expanded to incorporate targeted district events showcasing the services of Te Waka and these are expected to continue with more frequency in the coming months.
The Regional Engagement Strategy developed in November 2020 has now been adopted by the Board and stage one of the Outreach Plan is now being implemented through the Business Growth Team. A regional engagement schedule has also been crafted to advance district visits and profile Te Waka services
In addition to a Regional Project assessment tool being created to identify the value of opportunities and the support level required by Te Waka, a draft Terms of Reference for a Te Waka Business Advisory Group has been crafted and options presented for Board consideration.
Looking Ahead: • Continue to develop region-wide engagement • Appointment of a Regional Engagement Manager • Co-located regional services headed up Te Waka to create a collaborative working space for regional entities.
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