The Waiheke Island Tourism Forum expects a summer staffing crisis is just around the corner: At a recent meeting with Immigration New Zealand and the Ministry for Social Development, local business owners could count about 100 vacancies between them going into summer - and the tourism forum expect the problem to be double that number.
Read MoreAuckland Council is offering a one-off grant opportunity for conservation groups to cover essential planning, administrative and project facilitation costs.
This opportunity is designed to help community-led Pest Free Auckland/ regional biodiversity outcomes through increasing councils support for groups (the term loosely includes any entity involved in community-led conservation – organisations, schools, iwi, groups…..) to overcome identified barriers to participation. To do this, we have developed a one year, one off grant (at this stage) delivered through an Expression of Interest in Smarty Grants with the development of a more inclusive support package for groups that will be ‘co-designed’ alongside other NETR work in the future.
Many people visiting the island are not aware of Waiheke’s reliance on rain water, our typical summer droughts, or even how to minimise water use… But most respond positively, when they learn of the local situation, and play their part in conserving water. Read more, and get signs here!
Read MoreA pilot project launched by Auckland Council last year is already addressing issues raised by Waiheke Island residents in a recent household survey.
The three-year pilot started in December to trial ways of giving the Waiheke Local Board and community more influence over decision-making.
The council’s Research and Evaluation Unit sent 4734 households letters, with 477 responding, as part of the project to provide a baseline of where concerns rest.
Read MoreThree Waiheke Vineyards have more to be proud of this summer than their award-winning food and wine. Casita Miro, Batch Winery and Passage Rock have been working with the Waiheke Resources Trust to incorporate large scale Bokashi composting with the aim of reducing organic waste to landfill and instead turning it into nutrient dense soils to grow vegetables for their restaurants.
Read MoreA surge in technology-fueled travel is pushing European governments to consider the effects of “overtourism" and how to curb it. According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization, international trips rose 6% in the first half of the year, aided by such innovations as the rise of low-cost airlines; bigger cruise ships; internet sites, including online booking, local reviews, smartphone mapping, and ride-hailing and home-sharing; and social media and its emphasis on personal-brand building through photos.
Read MoreGlobal tourism has grown exponentially over recent decades. The cost of travel has come down. It's easy to research and organise a weekend away with a few clicks, and more people have the income to travel.
We shouldn't expect global tourism to slow. Travel is becoming cheaper and easier. In our selfie world of cheap consumer goods, travel offers a great way to break the boredom of daily life.
In New Zealand, we now get nearly 4 million visitors a year, up four-fold since 1990. Kiwis took nearly 4 million trips offshore, also up four-fold since 1990. Sometimes it's cheaper to go on a overseas trip than a local holiday.
Read MoreCarbon Neutral NZ - a project driven by long-time Waiheke residents of Lynda and Lindsay Jeffs - has launched an online calculator where people can measure their carbon footprint, including the footprint of the guests who stay in the homes or other spaces that Waihekeans rent out to visitors.
The calculator is live at https://www.carbonneutraltrust.org.nz/enter-your-carbon-data.
Read MoreThe Government this morning has launched a draft Aotearoa-New Zealand Government Tourism Strategy which it says is an important step in ensuring that all New Zealanders benefit from "productive, sustainable and inclusive" tourism growth.
Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said the strategy proposed a more co-ordinated and active role for government in tourism.
A community-led initiative committed to developing sustainable community and tourism strategy for Waiheke Island, and to monitoring tourism impacts.
