King Country tourism

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 290, 13 June 1989, Page 2 (Supplement)

King Country tourism

The King Country is attracting a greater proportion of highly educated tourists than anywhere else in the Waikato Region, according to a Department of Conservation (DoC) commissioned national survey. DoC recreation planner Raewyn Hutchings said the Heylen Research Centre poll showed that about 18 per cent of the

estimated 163,000 people who visit the King Country annually were in the professional class. This compared with a 10 per cent professional class visitor level for the Waikato Region as a whole. The Waitomo Caves were quoted as the most popular reason for travelling into DoC's Maniapoto District, which covers the area from Waikeria to Mokau. Thirty nine percent of the district's visitors said the caves were a positive attribute, but at the same time eight per cent saw them as too commercial, the survey found. Other major attractions in the district included its unspoiled beauty, tranquility and friendly people, while poor roads and a lack of shopping services came in for criticism. During the poll a representative sample of more than 1000 New Zealanders were asked if they had visited any of DoC's five Waikato districts in the past 12 months. Forty-five percent (representing 1,108,000 people), said 'yes\ The Heylen poll enabled the department to take a "snap-shot" of who our users are, what they ara doing and what they want," Raewyn Hutchings said. The survey, commissioned by DoC as part of its regional recreation strategy, highlighted some potential problem areas, she said. Turnpage8