Alternative sports facility This is an opportunity to get it right, The money’s in the budget, the reports are done, the structures are in place and we already own the land. Do we really want a white elephant no-one is going to use? PAGE 2
Wanaka breakaway proposal A group of Wanaka residents wants the ward to break away from Queenstown and become a separate district. PAGE 3 THUR 19.09.13 - WED 25.09.13
WANAKA’S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Farm visit for kindy kids
inside:
Children from Hawea Kindergarten visited Glendhu Station yesterday to learn about what happens in springtime and to see their two new hens. The kindergarten’s hens were killed by ferrets and it is getting new ones from Organic farmer John McRae . “It’s good for the children to see where the hens come from,” their teacher Ros Gould said. The children have been studying the life cycle of hens and the farm visit included a look inside the grading room where eggs are sorted for market. John McRae surprised them with gifts of half a dozen tiny pullet eggs for each child to take home.
Avalanche dogs pass test PAGE 2
Winter business puzzles
PHOTO: WANAKA.TV
Native plants total 2000 PAGE 8
sunviews PAGE 13
Baseball call-up PAGE 16
Tim Brewster Wanaka Sun
Ski season turnover for a number of Wanaka businesses appears sluggish despite the best snow conditions in decades and 10,000 more airline seats from Australia flying into Queenstown. “We’re getting discovered by mistake,” car rental business owner Barry Bruce said. He said a number of clients who had never heard of Wanaka were amazed at what was on offer in the
area and once they had spent time here were “fizzing” at the end of their holiday. Bed-nights for Wanaka in July show a 3.6 percent increase from the previous year with 59,838 in total. Queenstown showed a 10 percent increase for the same time period according to Statistics New Zealand. A businessman in the area since 1998, Bruce said frustration with the lack of promotion of the area was one of the main reasons he had decided to put himself forward as a candidate for the Wanaka Community Board.
“I’m really disappointed by marketing in Wanaka. We’re going backwards in a growing market.” Racer Edge co-owner Steve Schikker has been involved in the industry since the mid-1980s and said it had changed substantially with the introduction of the internet. He said potential visitors were booking their holidays much later with a much faster booking turnover. Wholesalers also found it much easier to sell Queenstown as a destination with a large number of beds close to the town centre and being able to offer
ski shuttles instead of renting a car to drive over to Wanaka. Three weeks of unsettled weather after the July school holidays also had a big impact. Steve was part of the Wanaka Winter Marketing group from 1993 to 2009 when it was disbanded and the work taken over by Lake Wanaka Tourism. “We’re pretty well served by Lake Wanaka Tourism. I know how hard it is. It’s so difficult getting people to Wanaka.” Story continued page 2