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A tourism leader says presenting a wider range of images of Maori culture is paying off for Maori tourism operators.
NZ Maori Tourism chief executive Pania Tyson-Nathan told this week’s Tourism Industry Association Summit in Wellington that her organisation was trying to extend overseas promotions beyond the traditional warrior images, which can intimidate potential visitors.
The result is increased visitor numbers and interactions with operators.
But she rejected suggestions that depictions of Maori culture were sending the wrong messages to international visitors.
Ms Tyson-Nathan says work done in the development of the Tourism 2025 framework found visitors don’t mind moko, but they are put off if there is an angry face behind it.
The summit also heard from new Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett, who says she is looking at how to get young people into tourism jobs and for it to be a career path leading to their own businesses.
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