Bay of Plenty Business News April/May 2017

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2017 17
Disaster response
recognised in national
planning awards
A joint response to complex planning
and technical challenges following the
Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010 and 2011
in parts of the Waimakariri District north of
Christchurch has achieved the supreme
accolade at this year’s New Zealand
Planning Institute (NZPI) awards.
The draft Waimakariri
Residential Red Zone
Recovery Plan – developed
by Waimakariri District
Council, Greater Christchurch
Group (within the Department
of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet), Te Rūnanga o Ngāi
Tahu and Te Ngāi Tū Ahuriri
Rūnanga – won both the award
for Best Practice Strategic
Planning and Guidance and
Waimakariri Red Zone.
the Nancy Northcroft Award,
which is the NZPI’s supreme
award.
Bay of Plenty interests
were also well represented
at the NZPI awards in
Wellington receiving the Best
Practice District or Regional
Plan award for Natural Hazard
Risk in the Bay of Plenty
Regional Policy Statement.
Organisations recognised for
the work were Bay of Plenty
Regional Council, Enfocus,
GNS Science and Integrity
Professionals Limited.
Waimakariri’s Recovery
Plan proposes parks and
reserves, walking and cycling
links, community facilities,
mixed use business areas,
roads and infrastructure, and
provision for heritage and
mahinga kai activities and
rural activities.
NZPI chief executive
David Curtis says the judges
drew attention to how the project
“displayed innovative and
creative excellence in planning,
community engagement
and leadership, successfully
responding to complex planning
and technical requirements
across three distinct
regeneration areas within a
relatively short time frame.
“The plan provides a good
The draft Waimakariri Red Zone Recovery
Plan was the supreme winner at the New
Zealand Plannig Institute (NZPI) awards.
balance between certainty and
flexibility in land uses and
successfully integrates the
proposed land uses within the
wider community and planning
framework.”
Besides Bay of Plenty,
other key awards related to
transport and infrastructure
planning in Auckland, consultation
on a pedestrian / cycle
bridge in Palmerston North
and a disaster risk reduction
project in Vanuatu.
Mr Curtis said a variety
of significant national
and regional projects were
nominated, with competition
being so intense the awards
committee determined that
additional projects needed
to be recognised as Highly
Commended within some of
the categories.
Commenting at the end
of NZPI’s conference in
Wellington, David said the
top three planning issues
addressed were reform of
Resource Management Act,
urban development and natural
hazards. Water management,
living-roof urbanism,
Māori participation in
Resource Management processes,
compact cities, transport
and rural issues were also
on the agenda.
More than 600 delegates
attended the conference. This
included, in addition to planners
and resource management
practitioners, industry
leaders, iwi, designers, scientists,
members of the legal
profession and judiciary and
local and central government
representatives.
The NZPI conference,
which has been held annually
since 1964, coincides with
“an unprecedented period of
planning reform and legislative
change,” said David.
360 degree tours attract millennials
Rotorua tourism operators
are seeing their
social media hits surge
ahead and discovering an
innovative way to increase
their bookings after adding
360° virtual tours to their
websites.
Redwoods Treewalk,
Whakarewarewa – The Living
Maori Village, Tamaki Maori
Village, Te Puia, City Lights
Boutique Lodge, and the
Rotorua and Blue Lake Top
10 Holiday Parks are among
the growing number of local
tourism and hospitality businesses
who are now using
360° panoramic imagery to
lure new customers through
the door.
Independent research conducted
for Google in 2015
showed those who view a
business listing with a virtual
tour are twice as likely to
make a booking, while millennial
customers (aged 18-34)
are 130 percent more likely to
book if a virtual tour is available
for them to see first.
Redwoods Treewalk
supervisor Karen Mather was
amazed when images from
their 360° photo shoot, organised
by Bay of Plenty-based
ScanView last month, reached
nearly 13,500 people and generated
400 comments, shares
and ‘likes’ within just a few
days.
“ScanView has created a
lot of interest for us, especially
on social media. The 360°
images have helped us reach
a really big audience and I’m
sure it’s had an impact on
ticket sales,” Karen says.
“Having a 360° tour available
makes people feel like
they’re already there. It gives
something extra to our website
experience and people are
more persuaded to come and
see it for themselves.”
Whakarewarewa – The
Living Maori Village also
recently organised a virtual
tour of their key indoor
and outdoor spaces. A staggering
125,000 people have
already accessed their 360°
tours directly off their Google
Maps listing in the past three
months.
“It’s a fantastic marketing
tool,” says Whakarewarewa
business development manager
Helen Beckett. “It not
only allows us to advertise the
Village, but to reconnect with
our people overseas as well.
The more people who see or
experience the Village via the
360° images, the more likely
they are to come here.
“It really takes our website
to the next level. It’s given
us a huge amount of exposure
and has improved our
business visibility on Google.
We’ve also used the images
on Facebook as well and the
amount of social media hits
we’re getting is fantastic.”
ScanView launched just
over 12 months ago and is
the only company in the Bay
of Plenty delivering customized
360° virtual tours. Owner
Mike Watt says demand is so
great the company has now
expanded to Waikato and
Auckland.
“Businesses focus a lot of
time and effort preparing their
ScanView owner Mike Watt.
physical premises to attract
customers but often that’s
not replicated online where
today’s consumer is making
their decisions about where to
book and spend their money,”
Mike explains.
“The interactive virtual
tours give customers the best
view of a business and the
added confidence to visit
or make a booking. From
your laptop, tablet or mobile
phone, you can step directly
inside any type of business
including tourism attractions,
hotel rooms and restaurants,
to view it as if you were
standing there in person.”
Aside from reaching new
customers on their own website,
businesses can also
increase their visibility on
Facebook and Google. The
360° tours feature on Google’s
main platforms including
Google Search and Google
Maps.
“Our virtual tours are proving
to be a huge hit on social
media. Customers are getting
a lot of positive feedback on
their Facebook pages every
time they share a 360° image
where users can click and
drag the images in the posts.
It’s proving to be very shareable
content and enabling businesses
to extend their reach to
a new audience.”
Redwoods Treewalk and Whakarewarewa
have both benefitted from the 360 tours.