Promotions group history

Ruapehu Bulletin, 27 June 1989, Page 6

Promotions group history

The Ruapehu South Business Association was formed in 1987 after what was perceived as negative publicity through the media in Wellington and Auckland about the state of the ski industry here.

It started from a public meeting in Ohakune, chaired by ex-mayor Bill Taylor with more than 40 concerned business people in attendance. The main concerns of the group were the inacuracy of city media reports, the difficulty of advertising and promoting the "Ruapehu South" atea without a cooperative effort and the need for a co-ordinating body. The "Ruapehu South Region" was defined as the area from Waiouru to the Manganui a Te Ao to Pipiriki, taking in Raetihi, Ohakune and Waiouru towns. Since its formation time has been spent on becoming an incorporated body, on setting ground rules and finding common themes for promotion, initiating some promotion activities and drafting a marketing strategy. Aims of the RSB A are to • Promote and provide interbusiness support, encourage businesses to talk to each other and to gain a focal point for promotion. •To relate and liaise with other regional tourism and

promotion bodies and access government or New Zealand Tourist and Publicity funds for the betterment of the community. •To tell the world we are a great place to be, spring, summer and autumn as well as winter. Some of the promotional activities undertaken so far include setting up and manning promotional stands at the Wellington travel trade show (to be followed by the August '89 Auckland trade show), organising co-operative stands at considerably discounted prices for local businesses at the Wellington and Auckland snow shows, organising the Queen's Birthday carnivals, producing information leaflets to show activities and maps of Raetihi and Ohakune. Projects on the way include the production of a full colour Ruapehu region brochure, the taking over and running of the Waimarino information centre in Clyde Street Ohakune (as from July 1), and to maint£in media coverage of the area in National daily newspapers.