Waikato Business News June/July 2023

8 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, JUNE/JULY 2023
Community leads
tourism direction
for Raglan
Known as the jewel in the crown of
Waikato District Council tourism, Raglan
is a mecca for local and international
visitors seeking a west coast holiday.
A
town driven by local
initiatives, the Raglan
community took over
the council operated iSite and
have given it their own unique
twist.
Renamed Raglan iHub
Information Centre, its genesis
dates back to June 2020 when
council officially closed the
iSite.
Determined to continue
providing authentic visitor
information and experiences,
a group of community
representatives launched
the Whaaingaroa-Raglan
Destination Management
Organisation (WRDMO).
Leading the charge, Raglan’s
district councillor Lisa Thomson
and long-time tourist operator
Charlie Young, although
disappointed at council’s decision,
saw it as an opportunity
for a community-led information
centre.
“We were bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed, and really saw this
as a fantastic opportunity for us
to look at what we could create
with the destination management
organisation,” Lisa says.
This meant lobbying the
district council for the chance
to take over the council-owned
building that housed the
iSite, and is also the site of the
Raglan Muesum.
“We were successful in
brokering that relationship
with council, and council staff
give us their time and support
in terms of community-led
development. Council has also
given us the space at a peppercorn
rent. And, on top of that,
there’s support with the likes of
electricity and building maintenance,”
she says.
Run by a dedicated team
of volunteers, with a part-time
manager the only paid staff
member.
Like many
New Zealand
destination spots,
Raglan benefitted
from the local
visitor market
during Covid and
that’s something
the pair are keen
to capture.
“We love our volunteers they
are bloody phenomenal and
they're fantastic ambassadors
for Raglan They're the reason
why we've kept our doors open,’
Lisa says.
The pair say the volunteers
each add a different
flavour to the visitor experience
with their particular
local knowledge.
Not just left to their own
devices though, the volunteers
are provided with
opportunities to experience
the tourism activities on offer
and workshops to upskill their
local knowledge.
“I always say to people
their own stories are great too.
But if we give them that continuous
support and backfill,
it will give them the confidence
to be engaged for a long
period of time as volunteers,”
Charlie says.
The iHub has been set up
to be more than just an information
centre, without council
funding to be fully operational
the dollars need to be
found somewhere.
Showcasing local is an
important part of what the
WRDMO is trying to achieve
at the iHub and a shop stocked
with local artisans’ and creatives’
products provides a
small revenue stream, with
plans to expand afoot.
“It is the perfect place for
people to come and trial products
they normally aren’t yet
producing at scale or have the
courage to approach a store to
sell their product. And that's the
beginning of that resiliency and
economic development that is
important to local communities,”
Charlie says.
Supporting a flourishing
community is one of the fundamental
goals of the WRDMO.
With climate change and
global events like the Covid
pandemic impacting the future
of tourism in Aotearoa, Charlie
and Lisa say thriving local
communities will be able to ride
those waves and have better
outcomes.
“We have to look at a different
model of what those visitor
experiences look like. Because
in five years, it will look different
and it will look very different
in 10 years. We have to
co-design that as a community,
Charlie Young and Lisa Thomson
Lisa says.
“Every single business in
this community is fully connected,
either first degree,
second degree or the third
degree. If you looked at the
dollar flow around the community
- if you're a plumber
you're still getting dollars generated
from somebody who's
made money from tourism,”
Charlie says.
Like many New Zealand
destination spots, Raglan benefitted
from the local visitor
market during Covid and that’s
something the pair are keen
to capture.
“Our strength is the people
coming out from Hamilton,
from Auckland, from Cambridge
and further. And COVID
showed that, even with the borders
closed, we still did pretty
good. That's our real true market.
And if it's good for them,
it's good for the community,
and it's going to be good for an
international visitor as well,”
Charlie says.