28 MARCH 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Website Showcases The Best of Tauranga

Information contained in The Best of Tauranga – the first independent guide book to the booming Western Bay of Plenty – is now available worldwide - via a comprehensive, up to date website: www.bestoftauranga.com

The Best of Tauranga guidebook, an ‘insider’s guide,’ was launched in November 2005, to critical acclaim from local lifestyle magazines and reviewers. It was variously described as ‘a little gem, a bible of information,’ and ‘long overdue.’

Written for both local residents and rising tourist numbers, the 208-page book covers Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Katikati and Te Puke, and the very best of the Western Bay of Plenty. The guide - still on sale in local stores - presents the region’s attractions and activities, plus the pick of what’s on offer in shopping, entertainment, dining and nightlife.

Now with www.bestoftauranga.com live, an edited version of the book, illustrated with full colour photos, is available to everyone on the worldwide web, says author Grant Dyson. We are targeting not only locals, but prospective tourists, immigrants, or expatriate Tauranga-ites living in far-flung parts of the world, he says.

The website was planned part way through last year, when Grant Dyson teamed up with website specialists Nina Reitan and Gerry Pogan of Tauranga company Emagine Design, to work on the site in a joint venture.

He says it was an obvious step: “most of us trawl books like Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, and regional tourism sites before we make our travel and holiday decisions.

“We wanted to get Best of Tauranga out there in the same way. One great thing about going online is the ability to update constantly and provide lots of colour photos.

“One thing we do hope to show is more of local attractions in colour, including things that are uniquely Tauranga and a bit ‘unsung and undershown’ such as the magnificent prow of the Takitimu canoe, the carved pou on the Strand, and the awesome waka sculpture,” Grant says.

www.bestoftauranga.com has the ‘inside story’ on all sorts of new enterprises and projects, ranging from the Mount artificial surfing reef to quirky local aviation and surfing museums, to the Western Bay’s first regional park and aquatic centre. Attractions like the blokart land-yachting track and artificial reef are unique in the southern hemisphere, if not the world.

The trio believes the website fills a gap in the marketplace as the Western Bay’s first independent and comprehensive site – different to others that are simple directories, completely advertising-driven, or focus on one thing, such as eating out. “Our aim as stated is: ‘views and reviews of everything that’s great in the Western Bay,’ ” says Grant Dyson. “It’s our own biased take on ‘the best’ and not an official tourism website’s party line.”

We’re also happy to refer people to other sites – such as Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Bay of Plenty, council websites, the Weekend Sun for a really good What’s On, and Priority One if you want the nitty gritty on the local economy, etc with a view to emigrating. “In doing so, we are also acting to some extent as a portal-type website for the Western Bay.”

A little way down the track, we plan to also profile local companies that have made a name for themselves in a particular field. Examples include blokart International, Design Mobel, and Puma. We wanted to showcase local business achievers and their products, he says, that are homegrown, sometimes niche market and quirky, but can also be quite “big name.”

ENDS

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