​Central Otago’s growing tourism offering signals a bright future

The future of Central Otago as a destination is looking positive with significant private and public investment to be realised in the next two to three years, which will add to the amenities available to the local community and visitors.

Central Otago District Council’s in-house Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO), gave an update on the district’s tourism performance at the Council meeting at Alexandra on Wednesday (19 July 2023).

In his summary, Tourism Central Otago’s Head of Destination Anthony Longman said Central Otago’s tourism future looked bright: The ongoing investment from both public and private sectors in experiences and infrastructure showed a continued confidence in not only the region’s appeal to visitors, but also as an attractive place to live. Many notable private investments were happening in the hospitality, food and beverage sectors which locals and visitors will be able to enjoy.

His report also outlined how the Central Otago Destination Management Plan was being implemented since its launch last year. The destination management plan is ensuring visitors add more than they take from Central Otago communities, while seeking to create a destination that is enriched by visitors.

Strategic partnerships form a key element of the plan and a number of these are already in place, bringing greater awareness and co-ordination across; not just Central Otago, but the wider Otago and Southland areas. Mr Longman referred to the Southern Way initiative as a recent example, which is led by the eight RTOs from Otago/Southland and works alongside airports and local government organisations to identify and deliver common goals.

The Otago Trails Marketing Group was another example that had been up and running for a few years now, and was last year recognised as one of three finalists at the New Zealand Tourism Awards for collaboration. The initiative brings together four RTOs, cycle operators and trails trusts across Otago to promote, educate and inform visitors, as well as increase the opportunities cycle tourism can bring to our communities.

“Our approach to managing and promoting the district through the destination management plan means we are focussed on delivering and supporting projects that support our communities ambitions for place,” Mr Longman said. “In doing so the tourism industry can live up to its potential as a catalyst for economic, social, cultural and environmental prosperity.”

Mr Longman spoke of global trends, especially in relation to climate change and growing concerns of long-haul travel impacts and how that might affect frequency and length of stay in New Zealand. He advised on anticipated trends of short-haul travel which for Central Otago means more domestic visitors and more Australians. Long-haul visitors would likely spend longer to get around the country, so rather than doing New Zealand in 10 days, they might take three weeks, or even three months and really get into exploring smaller regions like Central Otago much deeper than in the past.

Other interesting facts discussed during the update:

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) data shows by way of electronic card transactions that 31% of visitor’s spend is directly with a tourism businesses (accommodation, food and beverage serving services, and other tourism products). The remaining 69% was non-tourism sectors such as retail, grocery and petrol.

The tourism sector employed an average of 1,485 people in the Central Otago District in 2022. This amounted to 10.2% of the Central Otago District's total employment in 2022 compared with the national average of 5.4%.

A significant factor in driving tourism in the past two years had been Central Otago’s growing reputation within the domestic market. Now with borders open, operators are seeing a significant level of interest from much further afield, but pleasingly, still a strong level of interest from the domestic market, which is critical to the region’s success.