Strategic Review of Kāpiti Visitor Information Network Prepared for Kāpiti Coast District Council Prepared by Rob MacIntyre Destination Planning Ltd 2013 Page 1 Contents Contents .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Project Approach ............................................................................................................................ 4 PART A: STYLE OF VISITOR INFORMATION NETWORK ........................................ 6 Mandate for public support of visitor information centres ................................................................ 6 General role and functionality of Visitor Centres ............................................................................... 6 National Visitor Centre Context .......................................................................................................... 9 i-SITE New Zealand .......................................................................................................................... 9 DOC Visitor Centre Developments ................................................................................................ 11 Reduction in i-SITE centres ........................................................................................................... 11 Market Trends affecting i-SITEs .................................................................................................... 12 Trends in visitor centre developments ......................................................................................... 18 Summary of Lead Practice i-SITE design ....................................................................................... 19 Integration of Visitor Centres with other Council or community facilities ................................... 23 Overseas visitor centre developments ............................................................................................. 27 Kāpiti Visitor Information Network Operational characteristics ...................................................... 29 Centre Presentation ...................................................................................................................... 29 Hours of operation and staffing .................................................................................................... 30 Customer Enquiries ....................................................................................................................... 30 Seasonality .................................................................................................................................... 31 The local community ..................................................................................................................... 31 Domestic Visitors .......................................................................................................................... 33 International Visitors .................................................................................................................... 33 Customer feedback ....................................................................................................................... 34 The local and regional tourism business (operator sector). ......................................................... 34 Role as a Gateway ......................................................................................................................... 36 Page 2 Digital information provision ........................................................................................................ 36 Signage and Physical Visitor Information Provision beyond the i-SITEs ....................................... 39 DOC information provision in Kāpiti ............................................................................................. 40 Implications of Local Government Amalgamation ....................................................................... 40 Comparisons with other i-SITEs ........................................................................................................ 41 Average i-SITE NZ benchmark figures ........................................................................................... 41 Selected comparison group .............................................................................................................. 41 Conclusions on the Kāpiti Visitor Information Network ................................................................... 51 Recommendations on Style of Visitor Information Network ........................................................... 52 PART B. LOCATIONS OF VISITOR INFORMATION FACILITIES ......................... 54 Background on Visitor Centre Reviews and Relocations .............................................................. 54 Site option considerations ............................................................................................................ 55 Potential Site Assessment ............................................................................................................. 55 Best Location for a single Kāpiti i-SITE .............................................................................................. 58 Recommendations on Kāpiti i-SITE Location: ................................................................................... 60 Retaining the services used by the local community .................................................................... 60 Local Kāpiti Information Services .................................................................................................. 61 Kāpiti Visitor Info Points ................................................................................................................ 62 Page 3 Introduction Kāpiti Coast District Council (KCDC) contracts the operation of two i-SITE visitor centres in Paraparaumu and Otaki. A volunteer group also provides a community visitor information centre service at the Waikanae Library with some council funding support for the volunteer coordinator role. KCDC is seeking to ensure that the investment it puts into this aspect of the visitor sector is the most efficient way to continue to support visitor information needs. This includes gaining an understanding of the changes in the way people are accessing information; and determining the optimal mix of physical and digital aspects of a future Kāpiti Visitor Information Network. The review has been carried out in two parts outlined below. Part A General Overview of the Visitor Information Network: • the current role and functionality of the Kāpiti Visitor Network in the context of local, regional and national requirements and changes; • what channels these roles and functions are best likely to be delivered over the next 5 years based on trends in user behaviour and demand; • Kāpiti community uses of the Visitor Information Network, including the i-SITEs. Part B Based on the findings in Part A, assess and recommend to Council the best location(s) for the Visitor Information Network for Kāpiti from 2014. Project Approach The review has been carried out by Rob MacIntyre of Destination Planning Ltd. In addition to drawing on past experience of managing Wellington region RTOs and i-SITEs, reviewing all Northland, West Coast, Hutt City and Stratford i-SITEs and working on the i-SITE NZ Strategic Plan 2013-2016, this review has entailed consulting via face to face discussion, phone or email with the following organisations and individuals: • The Kāpiti Company • Paraparaumu & Otaki i-SITE supervisors • KCDC managers covering council reception, libraries and infrastructure (signage and roading) • local tourism operator representatives including Destination Kāpiti • Positively Wellington Tourism Page 4 • DOC • i-SITE NZ executive • Managers of the new information centres at Levin library and Upper Hutt • The coordinator for Waikanae Community Information Centre The review has also involved: • reviewing Nature Coast Enterprise annual reports • analysing raw data on users of the i-SITEs; • reviewing NZTA’s latest plans for the MacKays-Pekapeka and Pekapeka-Levin expressway sections; • obtaining approval from seven other i-SITE managers to access their benchmarking data, sourcing the data from Deloitte and analysing the data; • visiting Kāpiti visitor centres and several other sites in the district where information provision may be important. Page 5 Part A: Style of Visitor Information Network Mandate for public support of visitor information centres Most councils that support visitor centres consider there is a mandate for public funding because the services: • deliver community information such as council service details, road conditions, events and community contacts that would otherwise fall on council reception; • support growth in tourism spend by: o helping to attract more visitors by providing remote information at the pre-trip planning stage and encouraging them to commit through a booking; o extending the stay of visitors when they arrive; o encouraging visitors to do more local activities; o exceeding visitors’ expectations of service and welcome, providing a human interface with the local community, encouraging repeat visits, and resulting in ongoing word of mouth promotion to new visitors. • The increased spend from these visitors