Community feedback wanted for Destination Management Plan

Published on 07 August 2020

Whanganui & Partners Media Release

Whanganui & Partners is hosting a workshop on Thursday, 13 August to collect ideas from the community that will shape a Destination Management Plan for Whanganui.

Paul Chaplow from Whanganui & Partners says the Destination Management Plan (DMP) will help the Whanganui visitor industry develop in a way that is driven by what people in Whanganui want.

“Destination management brings together different stakeholders to develop a well-managed, sustainable visitor destination. It’s a way for us to identify the social, economic, cultural and environmental risks and opportunities and plan our future around them,” Chaplow said.

In addition to providing a roadmap for developing Whanganui as a destination, Chaplow says having a Destination Management Plan opens up opportunities to attract future funding to Whanganui.

“The recently established International Tourism Levy collects $35 from everyone entering New Zealand on a temporary visa. This gets invested into tourism infrastructure, but regions can only access this if they have a Destination Management Plan in place,” Chaplow said.

Chaplow says the workshop will be an opportunity to identify community aspirations, values for Whanganui, how to define success for the community, and will outline the community benefits of a Destination Management Plan developed with purpose.

“No region’s plan is the same, and we need to ensure that ours reflects the interests and values of the people of Whanganui and what we want for our region,” Chaplow said.

There will be workshops held with iwi, tourism operators, community groups and the general public. Chaplow encourages anyone with an interest to take part in the public workshop on Thursday, 13 August.

The workshop will run from 5:30 to 7:30pm and will be held at the Cooks Gardens Events Centre. Attendees must register beforehand at whanganuiandpartners.nz/DMP