Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa weaves Māori storytelling and culture into its offerings for visitors. Photo: Supplied
Māori tourism is on the rise, and operators say the key to its continued success is offering authentic cultural experiences.
A recent report showed Māori tourism contributed $1.2 billion to the economy in 2023, up by nearly 25 percent from $975 million in 2018.
Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa general manager Debbie Robertson said her business wove storytelling and culture into its offering for visitors.
"People want to connect with people and that's what makes it different," she said.
"Anyone can go anywhere and sit in... mineral water. It's around the world but what the difference is is the connection to the culture and the people and what we're able to offer."
Māori tourism businesses across the motu offered a chance for manuhiri to connect with culture through experiences and helped Aotearoa to stand out, she said.
"Many of our people that are offering products across Aotearoa are very humble and they need to elevate their price point," Robertson said.
"People will pay to experience what they have and connect with them and our culture, and don't be shy about doing that. Be unapologetically Māori."
Ngāi Tahu Tourism general manager Jolanda Cave said Māori tourism was leading the way thanks to more collaboration between operators.
"It has to be authentic or it actually isn't going to be an amazing manuhiri experience," she said.
"We hold ourselves to account in that space all the time. It's also why it takes time to enhance your product and your delivery and do it well in an authentic way. You can't do it overnight cos then it wouldn't really be an authentic experience."
The industry was preparing for big changes in how tomorrow's tourists plan, book and engage on their future holidays.
It expected many travellers would be younger, digital-savvy and on the search for special experiences as well as older, well-off retirees.
"We're storytellers. We use our voice and we use it well so regardless of how they're travelling whether it's virtually, whether they're still coming to our location, we're still going to be sharing our story in an authentic way, just potentially delivering it in a different means," she said.
New Zealand Māori Tourism board chair Dale Stephens said businesses had put in some hard mahi to help the industry grow.
The government wanted to ramp up international visitor numbers in a bid to double the value of tourism exports by 2034.
But he wanted more of a focus on offering high quality, authentic, immersive experiences, saying visitors wanted to experience life through a different lens.
"If we use that as the focal point, making sure that we treat our manuhiri, our guests, as family and wanting to look after them, give them a great experience, and be prepared to welcome them back time and time again, I think that's the real secret for having successful tourism in this country," he said.
Stephens did not want to see the return of pre-pandemic pressure points where popular destinations suffered from being overused.
"We need to educate the tourism sector that some fantastic tourism opportunities exist away from the main trunk lines and that will spread the load and spread the opportunity across the country."
Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram said a regular survey of overseas visitors showed culture was a drawcard for travellers.
"Thirteen percent of them were inspired to come to New Zealand because of our culture and our heritage and so I see that number continuing to grow as we build the profile and deeper understanding of Māori culture in New Zealand," she said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had high hopes for the future of Māori tourism.
"Māori tourism can do so well and it always has done so well," he said.
"I've been offshore with Māori tourism operators on visits in my past life as well, and I reckon they do the best.
"They do so well because they just connect culturally and they connect through the culture and they build great relationships and they've got some of our highest quality products."
The government's roadmap for the tourism industry was expected to be released soon.
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