Auckland's tourism sector embraces Māori and Pasifika culture
Photo:
Glorious
Auckland's tourism sector is embracing Māori and Pasifika culture as the city's cultural agency aims to build a more distinct international brand.
The recent State of the City report warned Tāmaki Makaurau was
falling behind other international cities
and recommended a
stronger "Auckland brand"
to attract visitors.
Auckland is the City of Sails, it's the supercity, it has a world-class airport and is a popular cruise ship pit-stop.
But the label resonating with many tourists is Tāmaki Makaurau, that is, an Auckland embracing its Māori heritage.
Long-time tour guide Louisa Tipene Opetaia saw the opportunity. Last year she and her sister opened their own tour company, Glorious NZ, to show visitors there was more to Auckland than meets the eye.
"We are the biggest city in Aotearoa but we're also the biggest Polynesian city in the world, and I do feel like in the past we haven't really, you know, capitalised on that cultural gold that we have here in the city," Tipene Opetaia said.
She said many tourists landed in Auckland excited to experience Māori culture, but rather than staying in the city they often went elsewhere to get a taste of it.
"Unfortunately, in the past it's been that mainly they would go to Rotorua to have a Māori experience," she said.
"But we believe that our community has rich cultural gold right here in south Auckland and so our day tours are focused on keeping them here in Tāmaki Makaurau and giving them authentic indigenous experiences."
Tipene Opetaia had witnessed surging interest in Māori culture.
"A lot of our guests, they're very well travelled and so they don't really want to do the touristy things. They really want to be connected with local people, with local communities," she explained.
"We take them to a local marae, we take them up to Māngere Mountain to learn from the local tribe the history of the mountain."
That interest had been noted by the council's cultural agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.
Director of Māori outcomes Helen Te Hira saw the city's Māori heritage as an essential part of Auckland's brand in 2025.
"That brand of the city has got to reflect that we're, before we were anything else, we're an indigenous place of many tribal peoples," she said.
"So I think as the cultural arm for the city that's really something we're very conscious of and have been investing in."
Te Hira pointed to a February report by industry group NZ Māori Tourism which found Māori-focused tourism businesses contributed $1.2 billion to New Zealand's GDP in 2023.
That was compared to $975 million in 2018, a 23 percent growth despite interruptions caused by Covid-19.
Timmy Smith, a Waiheke Island jeweller with designs inspired by Māori culture, said it was clear that Auckland's biggest strength was its diversity.
"I believe that Tāmaki Makaurau has always had its own identity. It's been a place that people for centuries have gathered, have traded, have interacted and elevated each other's offerings and I think we've just, we've lost sight of that," she said.
She said it was exciting to witness a renewed focus on Auckland's cultures and people.
"Tāmaki's been known as the City of Sails and that's correct, our Hauraki Gulf and beyond are incredible. But it's the people that live here. It's the cultures that are alive and well within this area that make it so incredibly special," she said.
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