Launch of Huka Lodge Activities Brochure

„h Alex Van Heeren, Frank Mestrom, Tomas Kastberg, Your Worship, Parliamentary colleague Georgina, Counsellors, Ladies and Gentlemen

„h Delighted to be here for the launch of this Activities Brochure.

„h Shows what a wonderful region we live in.

„h Certainly an exciting time for the Tourism Industry. Tourism now 9.7% of our GDP, one in ten jobs directly or indirectly generated by Tourism. Sector worth $13.2 billion.

„h Very good feeling at the recent Tourism Conference in Rotorua.

„h My priority from day one as minister was working with the sector to ensure a sustainable future. This central to the New Zealand Tour9ism strategy.

„h Have announced important progress on the Tourism Strategy:
„h A new Ministry of Tourism.
„h Looking at the best way to create a public/private sector partnership to market New Zealand internationally.

„h Also released new visitor forecasts through the Tourism Research Council I established last year:
„h International arrivals are forecast to grow by an average of 6.3% per annum to 2.7 million arrivals in 2007.
„h Expenditure by international visitors is forecast to increase from $4.7 billion to $8.1 billion.

„h For me a central issue ¡V well illustrated in this balance ¡V greater focus on yield.

„h Forecasting programme extended to provide analysis of tourism demand and expenditure at the regional level.

„h Will permit a better understanding of tourism at the regional level where so many of the key decisions are taken - by businesses, by local government and by regional tourism organisations.

„h Tourism is a sector with a myriad of interlinking relationships.

„h It requires commercial operations to not only compete, but also to cooperate.

„h A publication like this brochure benefits not only Huka Lodge but dozens of other tourism operators and indeed the region as a whole.

„h Tourism Strategy identified that the real challenge to New Zealand across the range of visitor products is to offer a World Class visitor experience.

„h There is no better example than Huka Lodge.

„h Finally, congratulations to Huka Lodge on getting the Royal seal of approval ¡V with her Majesty to stay here once again, in October.