Maori tourism catapulted into international arena

The first direct cyberspace pathway into Maori tourism in Aotearoa New Zealand has been established. An initiative of the Poutama Maori Business Trust, in liaison with the Ministry of Tourism, www.tourismmaori.com is a new website which has just been officially launched by Associate Tourism Minister Dover Samuels.

The new Web-based initiative is, according to Poutama Maori Business Trust chief executive Richard Jones, a bid to put Maori tourism squarely in front of the world.

“It presents an entry into Maori tourism opportunities, products and services to help differentiate New Zealand in the global tourism marketplace,” Richard says.

“Its a portal for marketing Maori tourism product offshore and will enable consumers and the global tourism industry to identify who are Maori within New Zealand’s tourism industry.”

The website contains the most comprehensive database of Maori tourism operators ever compiled.

The site is self-administrating and all operators have to do is register, input their user name and password and they will then be able to add or update their details, ie. they can go into site anytime they to like to undertake such activities as changing their pricing, uploading photos or adding a new service. Richard says the new website links with, and acts upon recommendations made on Maori tourism development in the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010.

A behind-the-scenes advantage of the website is a back-end database that will provide statistical data and reports on businesses.

This information can then be used for such actions as determining at what stage of the business life cycle a business is at, and how business assistance resources can be bought to bear on the development and growth of the business.

“The database provides a facility for surveying, research and development and testing,” he says. “It will also provide a mechanism for gathering and disseminating Maori tourism-based information”.

For Maori tourism operators, the website will be a valuable tool. It will enable them to manage online bookings and give them the ability to market their products and services nationally and internationally.

Operators can utilise the site to co-operate with each other and develop initiatives such as clustering, packaging of product and joint marketing.

The site will also have a business assistance component to help operators consolidate and grow their businesses. The objective is for the site to become a one-stop shop which operators can come to for their business development needs.

Further development of the site over time will include the addition of short video clips, online customer surveys and e-commerce facilities such as personalised CRM solutions and online payments.

The national Maori tourism newsletter Te Mura o Te Ahi will also be available in electronic form on www.indigenousnewzealand.com from now on.

Richard says the site will be a work in progress and it will be constantly tuned to extract the maximum benefit for Maori and New Zealand tourism.