Combined forces to power Hawke’s Bay’s Regional Events Strategy

The importance of bringing events to Hawke’s Bay has been recognised with the recent appointment of three new staff at Napier City Council, Hastings District Council and Hawke’s Bay Tourism respectively.

Napier City Council’s Roger King, Hastings District Council’s Craig Ireson, Hawke’s Bay Tourism’s Megan Poppelwell and Kevin Murphy Sport Hawke’s Bay will work together to build an even stronger events portfolio for the region.

“Events play a very important role in delivering a positive economic return for the residents of Hawke’s Bay,” Hawke’s Bay Tourism General Manager, Annie Dundas says.

“They give people a reason to visit and this equates to money spent in Hawke’s Bay that would not have been spent otherwise.”

The collaboration of Hawke’s Bay Tourism, Napier City Council and Hastings District Council supports the goals of the Regional Events Strategy; committing event resource but more importantly working together to ensure the region shares in the economic success events can bring to the community.

Ms Dundas says the vision is for a one-stop shop for event managers, a central place they can come for support and assistance.

“Events will be assessed for their economic potential for the region and managed by the team according to their level of priority.”

Hawke’s Bay Tourism will continue to facilitate and coordinate regional events through Megan Poppelwell, their Regional Events Manager. Mr King, who has a strong arts background including the management of WOMAD and Taranaki Arts Festival and Mr Ireson, who comes from Sport Wellington, will complement Hawke’s Bay Tourism with their expertise and continue to develop the sector for their respective areas, as well as supporting broader regional objectives.

This group, along with representatives from Sport Hawke’s Bay, will form the region’s core team in relation to events.

“Events are a key economic driver and I have seen great results achieved when everyone works together,” Napier City Council Chief Executive, Wayne Jack says.

“Napier City Council is excited to see Hawke’s Bay reap the benefits from having this dynamic team representing our collective interests.”
Mayor of Hastings Lawrence Yule says “Delivering strong events across Hawke’s Bay is a critical contributor to the region’s economy, as well as being a powerful way for our communities to come together. This new team will further strengthen our ability to deliver superb events in Hawke’s Bay. “

Hawke’s Bay events are all located in one online event calendar accessed at events.hawkesbaynz.com. This allows event managers and consumers to list events and find out what is happening in one complete place. This site is powered by Eventfinda and also feeds to other national websites such as www.nzherald.co.nz

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