CASE STUDY – CREATIVE TOURISM NEW ZEALAND

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arts + markets + audiences
…tools & ideas to take your work further
- links from tourist organisations promoting New Zealand and Nelson. For
example see the home page of Latitude Nelson's website:
http://www.nelsonnz.com/ or look at the bottom of 'A Creative View of New
Zealand' on New Zealand's national tourism website:
http://www.purenz.com/index.cfm/purenz_page/E0AFB440-5D94-4B98-910F-
8B36A11391B3.html.
- rack cards in local visitor information offices;
- pursuing journalists; and
- contacting universities and colleges that teach tourism.
Is this enough? No, it is only a very modest start. The main constraint is money.
Budget
By piloting CTNZ within NBAM it has been possible to attract some grants and
sponsorship. Industry New Zealand, the Community Trust and Nelson
Marlborough Institute of Technology have all contributed.
These funds, together with subscriptions from Members and recommended
accommodation providers are now approaching NZ$20,000. They have covered
the costs of the website development and maintenance, initial print and NBAM's
staff time.
However, no paid advertising can yet be afforded and I am leading the project on
a voluntary basis for the time being.
And then What?
The pilot period will run until Easter 2004. If all has gone well and sufficient
creative tourists have participated in our Members' workshops for us to be
confident of developing a sustainable organisation, CTNZ will build on what it has
learnt and expand to offer workshops throughout the country.
A decision will then be made about the most appropriate legal structure for the
organisation: the options are staying within NBAM, becoming a separate not-forprofit
or becoming a commercial business.
If all continues to go well, then it could eventually be exciting to help set up
Creative Tourism networks in other countries and share what has been learnt in
New Zealand. Every country and region has skills and traditions that are of
potential interest to the creative tourist. The list of possible experiences is as long
as the list of abilities that mankind has developed in the different environments in
which he lives.
Creative Tourism has enormous potential but the speed with which this can be
realised is still uncertain. The possibility, however, that New Zealand could one
day be known as the home of Creative Tourism in the same way as it is
recognised as a primary destination for Adventure Tourism is a stimulating one.
Published at www.fuel4arts.com with permission from the Author, September 2003 Page 4 of 5
© Creative Tourism New Zealand and Australia Council for the Arts, 2003