Whakatāne is gearing up for a busy tourist season with a brand new visitor guide and a new team leader at its award-winning Visitor Centre. Whakatāne District Council Promotions Officer Nicola Burgess says that the new visitor guide will be available in September and highlights the best the Eastern Bay has to offer.

“30,000 guides will be printed and distributed throughout the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Taupō,” Ms Burgess says, “as well as through the national iSite network.  A redesigned promotion and tourism website (whakatane.com) will be also launched in late September.”

Ms Burgess says total guest nights increased 11% over last year to 220,513 and she expected this summer to be particularly busy for tourism providers.  “We’ve seen a significant improvement this year as the economy has improved, New Zealanders have started travelling again, and international visitors are staying in New Zealand longer,” she says.   

To capitalise on this, the Visitor Centre’s new team leader Bruce Erasmus says a redevelopment of the Centre will soon be undertaken. Bruce has joined the Council from the Agrodome in Rotorua and is looking forward to the challenge of revitalising the Centre and the services offered.

“We are turning the centre into a showcase of excellence for our District,” Mr Erasmus says. “Tourism is one of the best opportunities to attract spending to our region, and this will lead to more employment, especially for our young people. And that all starts with showcasing the best of our region to the world.”