After a busy six months of community engagement, the Ruapehu Destination Management Plan continues to take shape through reciprocity and responsibility.

Waka Waituhi is a concept symbolising reciprocity and responsibility and has been a guiding force for this plan. For Māori, Waka Waituhi is a wooden water trough with snare loops used to capture birds. In Ruapehu, traditionally, the Waka Waituhi was used to provide water and nourishment to birds and then at certain times of the year, be used to capture birds to nourish the people here.

“Our place in the world nourishes our local communities as well our manuhiri so the concept of continuous, collective reciprocity and responsibility is an important part of our destination management plan,” shares Jo Kennedy, General Manager of Visit Ruapehu.

Through a series of community surveys, a rangatahi challenge and events including tourism operator workshops and whānau expos, the Visit Ruapehu team worked closely alongside Troy Brown from Waihuia Ventures Ltd. to capture community sentiments on identifying top local activities enjoyed, ways tourism contributed to community wellbeing and new ideas on how this can be improved.

“We are stoked with the engagement received so far, with hundreds of community members having attended our events, and nearly 400 community surveys completed to date. At this stage, we are analysing insight and feedback to rollout the refreshed Ruapehu Destination Management Plan,” adds Troy.

With some incredible prizes offered to help boost engagement, eight lucky winners were drawn in recognition of their participation. Key updates will be shared on the Ruapehu Destination Management Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ruapehudmp.

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