Economic Development Hui for all Marae in the

Economic Development Hui for all Marae in the Manukau Region Community Building Software and Web Raising Dr Simon Milne, Vanessa Clark, Carolyn Nodder and Nathaniel Dobbins Auckland University of Technology 11 August 2005

Overview • Briefly – the Internet and tourism business performance in New Zealand Auckland. • ‘Web raising’ and community participation in tourism development (cases and examples) • Community building software.

Who made the most visits to the Auckland region in the past year? 1. 2. 3. 4. Australians (550, 707) UK/Nordic/Ireland region (356, 951) Americas (283, 091) and NE Asia (277, 955). Statistics, facts and figures from Tourism Watch (Tourism Auckland Newsletter) May 2005

Who spent the most nights in Auckland last year? Visitors from … 1 2 3 North-East Asia (3. 56 m visitor nights) Australians (2. 64 m) UK/Nordic/Ireland region (2. 14 m)

Trends and Facts Trend: Over the past 5 years visitor nights from North-East Asia have grown from 1. 47 m to 3. 56 m. Fact: Visitors from the Americas spent the most per night ($185)

What about domestic visitors to Auckland? 6. 52 m domestic visitor nights (Dec 2002) They came to: 1. visit friends and family (39. 5%) 2. holiday (36. 5) 3. business (16. 9%) 4. other activities (7. 1%).

Question: Answer: So how do they find out about us? The Internet

Who has access to, and knows how to use, the Internet? Internet penetration level: 1. Sweden: 76. 8% (of the population) 14. Italy: 50. 9% 2. United States: 70. 4% 15. Germany: 54. 9% 3. Australia: 67. 1% 16. Finland: 50. 7% 4. Netherlands: 66. 0% 17. Japan: 50. 4% 18. Taiwan: 50. 3% 19. Norway: 50. 0% 20. Austria: 46. 5% 21. Bermuda: 46. 2% 10. Switzerland: 61. 9% 22. Slovenia: 38. 4% 11. United Kingdom: 60. 6% 23. France: 38. 0% 12. Singapore: 60. 0% 24. Belgium: 36. 4% 13. New Zealand: 55. 4% 25. Luxembourg: 36. 0% (Internet World Stats, May 2004) 5. Iceland: 65. 3% 6. Canada: 63. 9% 7. Hong Kong: 63. 0% 8. Denmark: 62. 5% 9. South Korea: 62. 0%

Are we ready for them? As a group, are we better to work together?

The Internet and Community Tourism Consideration of the community aspect “If the tourism industry is to perform effectively for communities it must not only generate long term economic benefits, it must also mesh with the needs and desires of local people and not destroy their quality of life (Mowforth and Munt 1998; Milne 1998). ”

Business, networks and community Enterprise All businesses are members of a community. Community Development Businesses work better as part of networks and communities Facilitate this by creating a System for communities and businesses to work together and both have their say

In the community context we need to • Create awareness of the value of tourism (as a contributor to local economies) • Distribute and gather information • Encourage participation in decision making processes • Identify community assets – local knowledge is vital • Identify training needs and meet them • Consider infrastructure provision and pool resources • Encourage engagement of local people and local businesses (in the development of ‘experiences’ in tourism) • Understand the importance of virtual communities

Web Raising Web raising is the digital equivalent to a barn raising - a community working together to create a collective asset. A web-raising is a community event where neighbours share experience and skills to help empower one another in the creation of web documents.

Web raising Cases and experiences from NZTRI past, present and future Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada Kiwitrails – East Cape Southland the ‘Extreme South West’ Waiheke Island Tourism group (WIT) South West Waikato

Issues to address • limited monetary benefit and few links to food/arts and crafts • tourists don’t know enough before they arrive • communities and businesses work in isolation

Linkage, product development, marketing, empowerment Developing a Website that will: • Link tourism and other sectors • Encourage networking • Create skills transfer • Educate visitors (and locals) • Increase local input • Attract the ‘right’ visitor Web-raising

Example - Sou’west Southland Farming Tourism Etc… NZTRI input Local input Involve key stakeholder groups Local content, stories, uniqueness… Decision Support System (website) (create an experience for the visitor) Local champions Goal Skills/tools/ knowledge/ benchmarking Information & communication Technology Research - Effective information to fill gaps Sustainable Regional Economic Development jobs, income, community revitalisation, preservation of history & culture (adding value, product changed into experience)

The Sou’west website as a Decision Support System (business/local perspective) Content Development Web presence/ Web-raising Trail Formation, Networking, Community formation Research dimension -information & tools The website

The Visitor perspective Trails: Unique content, stories, people Customizing visitbuilding an experience etc Research: Searching, supplementing and relationship building The website

Benefits to the Visitor • Unique, detailed information about the people and the region before they leave home • Helps in decision making and trip planning • What the “Interactive Traveller” wants – authentic experience • They can learn and respect the people and culture of the region • More reasons to come, spend money and leave with a positive experience

Research Partnerships – Using Southland as an example NZTRI - The concept/method - Software - Project coordination - Benchmarking - Case Study for presentations/ publications - Cost effective grad student labour/training Website – Web raising Local Groups - Local logistics/support - Local contacts / leadership -Locals willing to administer/mentor -Community input / support Research/support: Local government Link in with wider regional tourism strategy -Link in with local research needs/opportunities - Link in with other community strategies -Funding?

Community building software Nat Dobbin

East Cape NZ – www. kiwitrails. co. nz Creating a trail around some of the most remote parts of NZ, linking many small tourism businesses and communities Businesses build their own webpage online at no cost

The concept • Region-based • Each business has own webpage – not just directory listing • Each business creates & manages webpage • Themes/trails of activities/interest • Community generate content • Various ways of accessing information

The process 1. Understand needs and motivations for this process, business/community buy-in to the Website 2. Web raising: Decide scope of website, structure 3. Basic framework, graphics, forms 4. Get businesses onto system – training workshops 5. Get community content into system – brainstorming workshops, training workshops 6. Locally managed, continue growing/evolving,

How do we do it? • Workshops with groups to explain concept & ideas to generate content • Simple set of forms to enter business info • Business support to make the most of marketing • Businesses & communities manage own webpages