Visit Ruapehu Appoints New Trustees

Visit Ruapehu, the District’s regional tourism organisation (RTO) has appointed five new Trustees.

They are; Tracy Puklowski (Army Museum), Carole Beggs (Explore NZ), Simon Dickson (Ruapehu Alpine Lifts), Paul Chaplow (Forgotten World Experience) and Emily Byrne (Tourism Industry Association).

The new Trustees join RTO Chairperson Peter Till, Councillor Graeme Cosford (Ruapehu District Council), Murray Wilson (Chairperson National Park Village Business Association), Dan Steele (Blue Duck Lodge) and Annie Rolls (New World Ohākune).

Ruapehu mayor Don Cameron said that Visit Ruapehu was very fortunate to have been able to attract and appoint Trustees of this caliber and experience.

“Appointment of the new RTO Trustees is an important step in Ruapehu properly resourcing its tourism organisations to take full advantage of the District’s tourism potential.”

“The Trustees who will meet four times per year have responsibility for RTO governance which includes setting strategic direction, assessing performance and value objectives, and providing expert advice and guidance as required.”

Mayor Cameron said that Council has committed $230,000 of economic development funding to support Visit Ruapehu led projects over the current financial year as well as taking a leading role in developing regional tourism opportunities.”

“This funding is being used to undertake research to better understand what visitors think and feel about Ruapehu as a tourist destination, to create a modern digital platform for promoting Ruapehu, develop regional trade offerings and marketing efforts of our two NZ Cycle Trails.”

“Another of Visit Ruapehu’s key tasks this year will be to partner with the Council led Tourism Project Group that has been working on developing both Ruapehu specific and regional tourism opportunities.”

The Project Group made up of key industry operators was established following a workshop held in December last year as part of the Regional Action Plan programme called Accelerate25 that is designed to realise the findings of the Manawatu-Whanganui Regional Growth Study.

“It is due to deliver a report to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise by April to see where they can partner with Visit Ruapehu on tourism opportunities.

Mayor Cameron added that he believed it was critically important that Council continues to invest and support our tourism and visitor sector if we wanted to grow investment, incomes and employment in Ruapehu.

ENDS

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