“Are there any areas in the district that we’re not utilising to their full potential?” Scotty Bamford asks, to which he receives a response of stunned silence.
Standing on the edge of a cliff on his Hurunui Hills farm, Scotty is calling out to a flock of sheep below. For obvious reasons, none of his flock are willing to have a yarn.
The comedy is part of Visit Hurunui’s new initiative, Let’s have a yarn, which is calling on the public to guide the future of tourism in the region – or risk letting those of the four-legged variety decide.
Visit Hurunui have launched Let’s have a yarn to help guide the creation of the region’s destination management plan (DMP). Through the campaign, the community are being encouraged to submit feedback online or join one of the various in-person sessions being held in the community. The feedback gathered will provide Visit Hurunui with ideas and inspiration to better meet the needs of both visitors and residents.
Visit Hurunui marketing manager Shane Adcock says the DMP is essential to creating a future for tourism, which benefits everyone.
“Visitor numbers to New Zealand were growing at an unprecedent rate prior to the pandemic. As a country we were facing some real challenges because of this. In Hurunui, we were just starting to feel the impact of that growth so we now have a chance to plan ahead and ensure that tourism can grow alongside our communities.
The DMP is about bringing everyone together to find out what we can be doing better to create an epic visitor experience that benefits our communities in every sense, while taking us into this new era of tourism.”
In the Let’s have a yarn videos, Hurunui farmer, Scotty Bamford interviews ‘local talent’ at three identifiable locations, including the Hurunui rugby grounds, a playcentre group and his own farm called Hurunui Hills, to highlight the need for the public to get their voice out there.
In one video Scotty is hollering to his sheep, asking them what their dreams are for development, while in another, he stands alone in the middle of the Hurunui Rugby Club grounds interviewing a rugby tackle pad to awkward silence.
Hanmer Springs playcentre members, Eliza, Hazel and Myra are perhaps the real stars of the show.
“What do you love about Hanmer Springs and the Hurunui region?” Scotty asks Myra.
“The moon,” answers the three year-old.
Shane says the short videos draw on humour to break up an otherwise fairly serious subject.
“We really want our communities across Hurunui to have a yarn with us in person, but if they can’t make one of the drop-in sessions, they can spin their own online. We’ve made this really accessible because we do want this to be a DMP reflective of our communities,” says Shane.
For more information about the Visit Hurunui DMP and community sessions go to visithurunui.co.nz/yarn
