Celebrating Wairoa’s positives and working collaboratively were key themes of the recent tourism hui, which aimed to develop Wairoa as a destination.

‘Wairoa Tourism Connect’ was about strengthening tourism outcomes and providing an opportunity for tourism operators and businesses to network and share their thoughts.

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little thanked those operators who took time to attend the hui and reflect on the summer season, what worked well, what could be improved, and how tourism outcomes can be developed moving forward.

“Wairoa has amazing tourism potential. Council’s role is to support our community to recognise the opportunities that will help make our district a destination.”

Key feedback themes included leveraging the opportunities around those who do visit the district, and the need for more proactive and structured action to ‘sell’ Wairoa.

Operators said much of Wairoa’s potential is around what many local people take for granted, such as the international demand for hunting and gathering experiences.

There was positive feedback around the inaugural artisan trail held in January, and the potential for expanding that through collaboration and producing an up-to-date map of sites and what is available.

There was also discussion around Wairoa’s accommodation challenges, the limited number of tourism providers in town, missed opportunities and the need for more planned events to draw people to the district.

Mayor Little said while only a small number of tourism operators attended the hui, it was encouraging to hear what is happening in the tourism space and the opportunities that exist. “The national and international tourism landscape has changed dramatically, particularly following COVID. This is our opportunity to reset and for people to work together, dream big and pursue their ideas. The key to our success will be collaboration and making sure everybody knows how to access local tourism experiences.”

Caption: Wairoa Deputy Mayor Benita Cairns talked about Wairoa’s potential to leverage tourism possibilities at the recent Wairoa Tourism Connect hui.

18 March 2026

Back to Home