Whakarewarewa Village Case Study of a Living Village and

its Capacity to Sustain Cultural Tourism

Presentation Overview

• Purpose

• Background of Whakawarewera Village

• Study trajectory

• Current visitor profile– ATLAS 2006 Cultural Tourism Study

• Themes of sustainability

• Recommendations/Implications

Purpose of the Study

To explore sustainable tourism development through a case study of Whakawarewera Village

Whakawarewera Village

Background of Whakawarewera Village

• Current community profile– Families– Demarcation of community– Community life- socializing, cooking, tangis, work,

natural resources

• Previous and Current tourism landscape– Te Puia vs. Whakawarewera Village– History of relationship

The Split• “One thing is for certain, the relationship between the institute and

the Rahui and possibly the whole Whakarewarewa village will never be the same”- Roku Mihinui (Daily Post, 17 Dec. 1997, p.1)

• “The village has been led by a nose ring but now that nose ring has started to pull through the skin and it is hurting a bit”- Roku Mihinui (Daily Post, 24 Dec. 1997, p.1)

• “The comment made by a lot of people has been that the institute raped the village- they’ve taken our culture and everything up there and now say they don’t need us anymore”- Jarmie Piripi (Daily Post, 24 Dec. 1997, p.1)

• “We will offer something unique, something authentic- the only place you will find a living village is in a living village and not an imitation of one”- Jarmie Piripi (Daily Post, 24 Dec. 1997, p.1)

Study Methodology

• Triangulation– Participant observation– Content analysis (newspapers)– Semi-Structured In-depth interviews

(employees, management, and residents) (n=14)

– Visitor surveys (n=353)

Study Methodology

• Question of sustainability arose from field notes

• Prior to the study, no data was collected concerning tourists, employees, residents or any other facet of the tourism side of Whaka Village

• ATLAS 2006 Cultural Tourism Study implemented to collect baseline data

Participant Observation

• Twenty-six month community immersion– 1 year demarcation point– Key events

• Finding key and secondary informants• Acceptance into the landscape• Researcher vs. Resident

– Problems• Emic vs. Etic approach (language)• Culture• Informants/Politics• External influences (media)

Conceptual Framework

• Goffman (1959)

• Front vs. Back Stage– Examples– Back stage in jeopardy– Authenticity- both front and back stages are

authentic albeit residents determine what to show and not to show

• Ethical issues

Data Analysis

• 550 pages of field notes

• Nvivo7

• Estimated completion – August 2008

• Current themes extrapolated from in-depth interviews and partial analysis of field notes

Why is Whaka Village sustainable?(Preliminary Results)

• Community cohesion

• Tourism approached as secondary activity

• Tourists are entertainment for the villagers as much as the villagers are entertainment for the locals

• Lack of tourism knowledge

• Status quo…not a career or considered work but rather considered part of life

Sustainability

• Lifestyle, in general, is based on the concept of sustainability. Culturally they do not try to control or manipulate nature but rather work with it

• Decisions navigate through many channels of which there are many personal agendas resulting in little actual change occurring.

• Place of escape and dependency• Point of difference that cannot be copied- no

need to reinvent or compete against other similar attractions as there are none in the area

• Authenticity

Those visiting Whakarewarewa Village may not have originally been motivated to visit for the culture, yet once in the village, are actively seeking it out and their level of satisfaction with their experience is not based on the landscape but rather the people and culture as demonstrated through the open-ended comments section of the survey.

The Villagers

The Visitors

ATLAS Survey Methodology

• Survey Template

• Sampling (n=353)

• Distribution and Collection

• Timeframe

Objectives of Cultural Tourism Survey

To describe the current fully-independent (FIT) and semi-independent (SIT) cultural tourist visitors to Whakarewarewa Village

To identify influencing information sources utilized prior to arrival in Rotorua for decision-making

To identify influencing information sources utilized after arrival in Rotorua for decision-making

To identify complementary attractionsTo explore the experiences visitors to the village

are having

Objectives of Cultural Tourism Survey

To identify satisfaction levels

To identify the importance of components of the visitor experience presently part of the village experience

To identify the importance of components of the visitor experiences presently unavailable

Survey Limitations

• Restructuring of questions

• Language limitations

• Distribution limitations–Weekend vs. Weekday visitors

–FIT/SIT vs. Coach tourists

Survey Limitations• Key events during data collection

period–School holidays

–Springbok Tournament

–World Mountain Biking Championship

–Summer season for northern hemisphere visitors

Satisfaction with VisitSatisfa

ction w

ith v

isit (1-1

0)

No answer

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Very satisfied

Percent of responses

403020100

31

23

22

8

5

7

Visitor ExpectationsExpectatio

ns

No answer

They were met

They were exceeded

I had no expectation

They were not met

Percent of responses

50403020100

11

24

47

14

Visitor Satisfaction

• The overall satisfaction level, based on a likert scale of 1-10, is 8.56.

• Seventy-six percent of visitors rate their visit as an 8, 9, or 10 out of 10.

• Forty-seven percent indicate their expectations are met and twenty-four percent indicating their experience exceeds their expectations

Interpretation panel

Literature/Brochures

Interactive interpre

Audio guides

Guided tours

Souvenirs/crafts

Catering facilities

Access for visitors

Average Importance

4.44.24.03.83.63.43.23.02.8

3.7

3.6

3.5

4.2

3.1

3.9

4.2

4.1

Importance of Site Components

Domestic/International Mix

76.5%

18.2%

5.2%

Abroad

Rest of the country

Local area

Top International Inbound MarketsLocation o

f Perm

anent Resid

ence

AUSTRALIA (AU)

CANADA (CA)

FRANCE (FR)

GERMANY (GE)

IRELAND (IE)

KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PE

NETHERLANDS (NL)

SOUTH AFRICA (ZA)

UNITED KINGDOM (UK)

UNITED STATES (US)

Percent of Top Survey Responses

403020100

7

33

4

5

6

24

Figure 7: Age Groups

Age group

Perc

ent of re

sponses

30

20

10

0

8

24

1615

21

35

8

Repeat Visitation

74.2%

24.9%

.9%

No

Yes

No Answer

Figure 8: Educational Attainment

Hig

hest le

vel of education

No Answer

Primary school

Secondary school

Vocational education

Bachelor degree

Masters/Doctorate

Percent of responses

3020100

20

28

13

28

10

Responses Percent

Maori Concert 125 38%

Museum 112 34%

Historic sites 111 34%

Buried Village 105 32%

Heritage/crafts centres

84 26%

Te Puia 57 18%

Art Galleries 35 11%

Ohinemutu 24 7%

Religious Sites 23 7%

Attraction Visitation

Conclusions/Recommendations

• Keep product status quo– Authentic– The Other

• Seek UNESCO World Heritage Site status• Conduct further research on the coach tours• Create, implement, and monitor a strategic plan

including focused research and marketing plans• Put residents at the forefront of decisions and

employment opportunities• Provide further outlets for knowledge-seekers