Activate Northland

Activate Northland commenced in 2004 as a “one off” intervention aimed to build the capability and lift the performance of Northland's tourism industry.

The project has been funded by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Enterprise Northland, other central / local government partners, and the Northland tourism industry. Some areas of the project began wrapping up in 2006 and final activities are due to be completed in December 2007.

Formal, independent research into the results of Activate Northland will be carried out and reported in 2008 as planned. However, the table below – which summarises our best estimates of the results achieved to December 2006 – shows that Activate Northland has already exceeded all expectations.

Employment generation has been calculated using the ratio of employment-to-gross income developed specifically for the Tourism Satellite Accounts prepared by Statistics New Zealand, as follows:
* $85,000 increase in turnover = 1 full-time equivalent job (FTE)
** Estimated capital investment of $2 . 64 million = 1 FTE

The growth generated by the project is expected to continue for three to five years, as more investment comes on stream and the profitability of Northland tourism businesses improves.

The project had four key result areas, professional development, product development, e-technology and inward investment. These are outlined below along with some of the components of each:

1 . Professional Development

•  Business Improvement Programme, involving 79 businesses
and the first business improvement programme of its kind for the tourism industry with demonstrable results.

To see case studies of the businesses that participated in the programme, please click here.

•  Northland Sustainable Tourism Charter, with 40 businesses participating. Recognised as a national model and currently being adopted by five other regions

For more information including businesses that participated in the programme and case studies, click here

2 . Product Development

•  Two research projects to guide planning, marketing and further product development initiatives
•  Northland Museum Strategy
•  Northland Cultural Tourism Project – Kauri
•  Food and wine sector development (more information)
•  Northland Arts Sector Strategy
•  Hokianga Tourism Development
•  Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga) Visitor Centre (see separate item in this newsletter)
•  Conference Marketing
•  Tourism Cluster Development
•  Also other product development initiatives

3 . E-Technology

•  Strategy developed to align Northland with the internet developments of Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise; new northlandnz.com regional portal developed
•  Northland I-Site review and strategy
•  Information Communications Technology (ICT) capability project

4 . Inward Investment

•  A range of programmes to create a positive investment climate in Northland by attracting investment to assist the growth of SMEs and acting as a catalyst for investment in tourism development.

To download the Northland Major Regional Initiative Activate Northland - Final Report, please click here.