4 April 2002

Tourism Minister Mark Burton has called on other communities to make use of the tourism industry association's new Community Tourism Planning Guide, which he launched in Akaroa today.

The new guide was unveiled after the first meeting of the Banks Peninsula Economic and Tourism Development Board. The Board has been set up to drive economic development in the area through tourism.

"The potential for tourism to act as an economic driver is now being widely recognised," Mark Burton said.

"The government and the tourism sector worked together on the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010 to maximise the benefits of tourism growth, while ensuring that development is culturally, socially and environmentally sustainable.

"We've provided an overarching framework, but small communities will play a key role in achieving the desired outcomes. It is essential that at a local level the tourism sector operates in a responsible manner to protect and enhance its resources.

"The Tourism Industry Association has recognised this challenge and it has led to the production of the Community Tourism Planning Guide – with invaluable funding support from Community Trust Canterbury.

"The Guide offers a practical approach that will lead small communities through the tourism development process," Mark Burton said. "The impetus to begin the process could come from a tourism operator, local authority, concerned individual or group of local residents. There is no 'one size fits all' answer. The Guide provides a 'tool-kit' of ideas that can be tailored to suit a particular community's needs.

"The desired outcome is an agreed vision about the type of tourism your community wants, and a strategy for achieving that vision.

"The Banks Peninsula community is already taking up the challenge and I hope other communities around New Zealand will make full use of the new Guide," Mark Burton said.

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