Economic recovery campaign launched

Chris Marshall Reporter from Taupō Times

A ‘Love this Place’ campaign has been launched to support businesses in the Taupō District.

The campaign also aims to share inspiring stories of enterprises adapting to the current environment, and shine the light on the area.

The primary goal of the ‘Love this Place’ campaign, said its creators, was to stimulate the local economy post Covid-19.

The campaign is a partnership between Destination Great Lake Taupō, Enterprise Great Lake Taupō, Towncentre Taupō, Taupō Business Chamber, and Turangi Tourism Group with support from Taupō District Council, and district-wide i-SITE visitor information centres.

Taupō District Mayor David Trewavas said he was delighted to see the initiative launched and urged all locals to get on board.

“This is all about showing our love and support for everything we have right here in our backyard. The Taupō District is an amazing place to live, work and play. Now is the time for everyone to support our local businesses, explore more of our own backyard and become an ambassador for our district.”

He urged the community to unite and spend locally whenever possible.

Turangi Tourism Group Chairman, Mike Bowie, also pplauded the launch of the new initiative.

“Our business community at the southern end of the lake has been severely impacted by Covid-19, with the immediate closure of so many tourism related operations,” he said.

“We know our Turangi locals will dig deep and support our business owners to come through this, and I think this initiative is a great jumpstart.”

He encouraged local residents to check the list of Turangi businesses trading at Level 3 before they went shopping.

Marketview figures show that in the year to March 2020, local spending across the district contributed 60 per cent of the total revenue through retail, accommodation, entertainment and other consumer spending.

The remaining 40 per cent was from a mix of domestic and international tourist spending. The same data shows that Taupō district residents spent $150m in retail purchases outside the district.

Locals can see which businesses are operating at various alert levels in the district at the ‘Love this Place’ Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LoveThisPlaceTaupoDistrict) from today (Tuesday, April 28).

Businesses are encouraged to register their details to be listed as trading during Level 3 by completing the form on the Facebook page and next week, the ‘Love this Place’ team will be launching a number of activities and promotions that the whole family can take part in, like treasure hunts and shopping incentives, said project coordinator Andrea McLaren.

Locals keen to be part of ‘Love this Place’ can share their story on Facebook by tagging @LoveThisPlaceTaupoDistrict.