With its iconic maunga, surf beaches, world-class gardens, events, galleries, and walks, Taranaki offers the best of NZ in a single regional destination.
In 2017, Lonely Planet judged Taranaki the second-best region in the world to visit, lifting the lid on the largely undiscovered region. The result of this accolade rapidly built Taranaki’s reputation as a destination hotspot; one that provides something a little different as visitors look to connect with its rich Māori culture and history, enjoy authentic experiences, and sample its laid-back, relaxed but sophisticated culture.
Tourism has almost doubled in value during the past decade, but it is still relatively underdeveloped. In a post-COVID-19 travel climate, Taranaki’s visitor industry is well placed to respond and recover, and there remains huge potential for growth.
Visitor Sector Support
Venture Taranaki supports tourism operators to help them grow the market and grow the visitor sector. Click the link to find out more about how we work to support the sector and promote the region.
Investment opportunities across accommodation, visitor tours and experiences, and hospitality are waiting to be explored.
Opportunities in the Visitor Sector:
Nature-based tourism offerings: Showcasing the region’s natural landscape.
Arts and culture and heritage attractions and tours: Tapping into Taranaki’s rich creative sector and history
Health and wellness offerings: Many opportunities throughout the region.
Soft-adventure tourism: Leveraging investment in trails and outdoor facilities.
Eco-tourism and biodiversity: Working alongside the region’s many projects.
Hotels and accommodation: From hosted to major hotel developments .
Central and local government and local authorities are laying the foundation for this by investing in the region. More than $19 million will see upgrades to hiking tracks and facilities in the national park that surround Taranaki Maunga, to enhance the more than 200km trail network and establish The Taranaki Crossing. This will introduce an iconic multi-day 41km Maunga ki te Moana – mountain to sea – walking experience, increasing both domestic and international (when borders reopen) visitor numbers.
Taranaki is becoming more accessible and attractive to visitors, aided by major development of the northern route of State Highway 3 to New Plymouth and State Highway 43 – the ‘Forgotten World Highway’ – to Taranaki’s east, a new modern airport terminal, investigations into extending the airport runway, and Port Taranaki working on bringing more cruise ships to the region (which will resume at an appropriate time).
Tourism Transition Pathway Action Plans (TPAPs)
Based on the co-design themes and the emerging opportunities identified in the Taranaki 2050 Roadmap, the methodology took the divergent thinking and opportunities identified in the Roadmap and channeled them into a more convergent set of tangible actions and outputs to define the short-term actions and medium-term strategy needed to achieve the region’s long-term vision for 2050.
The other transition pathway actions plans are available here.