Charlie Young and Lisa Thomson
Known as the jewel in the crown of Waikato District Council tourism, Raglan is a mecca for local and international visitors seeking a west coast holiday.
A town driven by local initiatives, the Raglan community took over the council operated iSite and have given it their own unique twist.
Renamed Raglan iHub Information Centre, its genesis dates back to June 2020 when council officially closed the iSite.
Determined to continue providing authentic visitor information and experiences, a group of community representatives launched the Whaaingaroa-Raglan Destination Management Organisation (WRDMO).
Leading the charge, Raglan’s district councillor Lisa Thomson and long-time tourist operator Charlie Young, although disappointed at council’s decision, saw it as an opportunity for a community-led information centre.
“We were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and really saw this as a fantastic opportunity for us to look at what we could create with the destination management organisation,” Lisa says.|
This meant lobbying the district council for the chance to take over the council-owned building that housed the iSite, and is also the site of the Raglan Muesum.
“We were successful in brokering that relationship with council, and council staff give us their time and support in terms of community-led development. Council has also given us the space at a peppercorn rent. And, on top of that, there’s support with the likes of electricity and building maintenance,” she says.
Run by a dedicated team of volunteers, with a part-time manager the only paid staff member.
“We love our volunteers they are bloody phenomenal and they’re fantastic ambassadors for Raglan They’re the reason why we’ve kept our doors open,’ Lisa says.
The pair say the volunteers each add a different flavour to the visitor experience with their particular
local knowledge.
Not just left to their own devices though, the volunteers are provided with opportunities to experience the tourism activities on offer and workshops to upskill their local knowledge.
“I always say to people their own stories are great too. But if we give them that continuous support and backfill, it will give them the confidence to be engaged for a long period of time as volunteers,” Charlie says.
The iHub has been set up to be more than just an information centre, without council funding to be fully operational the dollars need to be found somewhere.
Showcasing local is an important part of what the WRDMO is trying to achieve at the iHub and a shop stocked with local artisans’ and creatives’ products provides a small revenue stream, with plans to expand afoot.
“It is the perfect place for people to come and trial products they normally aren’t yet producing at scale or have the courage to approach a store to sell their product. And that’s the beginning of that resiliency and economic development that is important to local communities,” Charlie says.
Supporting a flourishing community is one of the fundamental goals of the WRDMO.
With climate change and global events like the Covid pandemic impacting the future of tourism in Aotearoa, Charlie and Lisa say thriving local communities will be able to ride those waves and have better outcomes.
“We have to look at a different model of what those visitor experiences look like. Because in five years, it will look different and it will look very different in 10 years. We have to co-design that as a community, Lisa says.
“Every single business in this community is fully connected, either first degree, second degree or the third degree. If you looked at the dollar flow around the community – if you’re a plumber you’re still getting dollars generated from somebody who’s made money from tourism,” Charlie says.
Like many New Zealand destination spots, Raglan benefitted from the local visitor market during Covid and that’s something the pair are keen to capture.
“Our strength is the people coming out from Hamilton, from Auckland, from Cambridge and further. And COVID showed that, even with the borders closed, we still did pretty good. That’s our real true market. And if it’s good for them, it’s good for the community, and it’s going to be good for an international visitor as well,” Charlie says.
