Summer with the Mayors: Tania Tapsell

Emergency housing and crime rates have been two major issues for Rotorua. 

But Mayor Tania Tapsell gives Tim Beveridge the numbers on where those issues sit now for the city. 

Named one of the top destinations in the world by Booking.com, Rotorua's tourism is soaring. 

From thermal activity and cultural experiences to the more unexpected attractions, Rotorua is a vibrant place to be this summer. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk ZEDB. Follow this
and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio. What's
happening in your neck of the woods on the summer
with the mess?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, and we're off to I said right a Vegas
rot ru is another great tourism spot over the summer.
It's plenty to offer from it's lose to the Redwoods
tree walk, world renowned mountain biking of course in thermal
hot pools, and guys, is my old hometown actually and
of course lots of gorgeous lakes and rot Mayor Tania
Tapsul is with me. Good morning, Cura. Well been quite

(00:47):
a year for you, guys, I mean, if you look
for quite a few years. But how are you feeling
about just on the negative side, the crime and r
and the how's the new city hub going?

Speaker 3 (00:56):
Oh? Really good, thank you. We've actually seen a thirty
eight percent reduction in offenses and particular violent offenses in
that time, so we're pretty happy with that. But of course,
working really closely with our police, are feeling really good.
So we've got our visitors back in town.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's great, excellent, of course, big top of a topic,
over the last year or two has been emergency housing.
Where is that at in ron Au right now?

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, Look, this has been a really challenging time for
us as a top tourism destination to be dealing with that,
so we work really hard on finding a solution and
fixing that, and we've now reduced that by seventy four percent,
so we're really happy to only be on the last
of our motels, which this government has committed to ending
by twenty twenty five, so you know what, we'll see

(01:41):
what happens.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Are you optimistic about that? Is that tracking?

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Well?

Speaker 3 (01:45):
I am, and I'm confident because they've actually given us
a plan, so they know that we want this to
end as soon as possible, and they have committed to
a gradual reduction and actually given us numbers so example,
we expect only four by the middle of about during July,
so yeah, we don't hold them to account for sure,
but we're optimistic.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
How's the tourism looking and what are you expecting over summer?

Speaker 3 (02:08):
Look, it's been really busy for us. We have been
named as one of the top destinations in the world
on booking dot Com. But also we've seen that when
it comes to bookings coming up for summer. We're also
pretty up there between US christ Church and Auckland, so
our local businesses are really happy about that because you know,
tourism and hospitality is our biggest employer. When people come

(02:29):
to visit us, our families still get to thrive. So
we look forward to hosting visitors over this holidays.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
How's the hospitality industry going specifically, Well, okay, it.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Has been a tough time for many, but for us
here in Orsa, it's been great to see some new
businesses coming through town too, so it's been okay. But
you know what, they do need more workers as well,
so it's a bit of an immigration problem that so
we hope that not only will this be a great
place to visit, but also a great place to work
for many others to join us in future.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
To what are the spots that tourists are drawn to?
And if you go back decades, it was always the
thermal activity, but of course wrote is tourism industry is
diversified a hell of a lot. What are they coming,
what are they expecting when they come to Rodora?

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, good point. And you know what's interesting is across
the world people are drawn to destinations with water, and
so for us we've got eighteen lakes. Lake Toutal winter
is my favorite because you've got a beautiful volcano there
where you're surrounded by a nature forest. But actually we
do also have that to get thermal offering. So we
opened up recently wir at Ikey Hot Springs and spa

(03:36):
world class facility. Highly recommend anyone that goes is start
spreading the words so you know, whether it's relaxing in
the cool lake or letting off a bit of steam
in one of our hot pools. It's a pretty good
place to be for our water, but importantly for our environment.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
What are the maybe the unexpected attractions of RODA people
come along? Go goodness, may what would you predict for
visitors who are coming. It's like, well, okay, you might
be here for the thermal activity and for the culture
and all that, but try this.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Look. If you have not been in forest, it is
a magical place. If you have not been on a
mountain bike, I dare you come here, jump on a bike,
see what it's all about. Because whipping through our forest
on one of our many different trails we've got I
think over three hundred kilometers of mountain bike trails, but
again because of how good the mountain biking is here

(04:28):
in Ortuda, we're also hosting a number of international events,
including crank Works in March, which I know a lot
of people come to Doorsuda to enjoy. So check out.
The mountain biking too. Doesn't need to be intense. There's
also some nice relaxing trails, but it's definitely worth it. Go.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
I'm a roader boy, and when the mountain biking took off,
you do sort of ask yourself, how come we never
did this earlier? But it is incredible, isn't it. What
about you? What are your favorite activities in Rodo over summer?

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Look, I love getting in the forest, so I do
quite a bit of running. It's a few things that
I do to try keep a balance in this busy job.
But we always like to spend Christmas around the lakes
having a barbecue and also so of course making sure
we're keeping the balance with all that Christmas pudding and
getting out there and being active in the forest too.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Good stuff. Hey Tanya, thanks so much for your time,
and Bess wish us for twenty twenty five.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Thank you and to you as well, Yes that's.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Road or Maya Tanya Tips Alert

Speaker 1 (05:23):
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