Tips on starting up Māori Eco-cultural Tourism Business
This page offers some specific thoughts and questions that you need to think through before starting up eco-cultural tourism businesses in rural areas. These questions come from the experiences our businesses had in Te Urewera. There are many websites with great information on how to start a business (try the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise website for example). We recommend you look at these also. You will also find it really useful to talk to people who have been through the process of setting up a business and it will also be useful to find a mentor or tutor to help you through the process.
- Crystallise your idea.
Exactly what experience do you want to provide for your customers?
- Talk to different people about your idea until it is very clear and you are sure that it is the thing that you personally really want to do.
- Talk with other business people who might be producing the kinds of experiences that you are trying to produce.
- If you can, go on those experiences and see how the visitors respond and how the hosts provide their experience or even work for other successful tourism businesses before setting up your own business.
This stage can take some time and can be confusing, but it is well worth thinking through what you want to do really carefully.
2. How will you support yourself while you build your business?
3.. What is your point of difference?It can take 3-4 or even more years from when you launch the business, until it is profitable, particularly in rural areas. You have to have some way of surviving through this period, whether it is the ability to access funds, or alternative income streams during the establishment phase
This might be based on the landscapes that you will be operating in, or it might be in the number of people that you will take per trip, or it might be or the kinds of knowledge that you or your guides will have. Determining this clearly will really help when it comes to promoting the experience and motivating people to come.
4. Keep it simple, at least at the beginning.
You might want to design your business so you can grow the number of experiences you offer, but start with only one or two products and do them well before moving to offer more. For example you might offer half day or full day experiences for a year or two before you begin to offer overnight trips. Keeping it simple means you can learn how to market your products and run your business more easily and probably also for a smaller cost.
5.. Take care in setting your price:
Your prices need to cover your costs (including your time for a trip) AND they must include enough extra padding to allow for overheads and commissions.If you want to have people book for you domestically (e.g. visitor centres), they will expect at least 10% of the price in commission as payment for their services. If you are looking to get people through international tourism channels then you need to allow for a minimum of 20% commission and some inbound operators may want to negotiate more.
This means that if you think you can offer your experience for $100 per person, then you need to set your price at more to cover this. If you set your prices at $110, a booking agent in NZ would expect to get $11 per person that they book. If you set your prices at $125 then an international operator booking people on the trip will want a minimum of $25 to go to them.
Research what others charge for similar products both in NZ and overseas. You may find that visitors are prepared to pay much more than simply the costs plus.
6. Get a computer and learn how to use it.
To run a successful tourism business, you need to be able to use email and the Internet. When dealing with people in tourism you have to be able to check email at least daily and you need to be easily contactable by phone. If you are a sole operator in a rural area this can need some working out. You may need to enlist help from another person if you are working where there is no cell phone coverage.
7. What might make it difficult for potential customers to buy your experience?
What barriers might there be for customers who are interested in your experience? For example, if you live in a remote rural area with gravel roads, people with rental cars or without their own transport will find it very difficult to get to you. In this case you will need to think about picking them up from somewhere, or work with another operator to pick them up, to make it easier for them to get to you.
8. Are domestic visitors interested in your products?
Domestic visitors can be an important market and they already holiday in rural areas. Domestic visitors may need a slightly different marketing approach. For example domestic visitors commented to us that they had visited marae or cultural sites through school trips or work trips or as part of a course where they were learning Te Reo. They did not think about doing these things on holiday but they were doing them in other situations so marketing to schools, businesses, etc maybe beneficial.
Some domestic visitors accompany international visitors that they are hosting and will provide recommendations to international visitors.
Domestic visitors may also be interested in seeing new places. Offering activities such as walking or mountain biking on Māori land where they cannot normally go may be of interest to them
If you live in a place where domestic visitors come for their summer holidays, there may be groups that you can target at busy times. For example you may put on half day kids activities or provide half day trips for women if you can find out what might interest them. At Lake Waikaremoana for example, many women said that they would be interested in horse trekking as a break from fishing activities.
Domestic visitors are price sensitive.
9. Land ownership.
Make sure that you have agreement from whanau on using land resources for taking tourists on trips. There may be significant risks to your business if whanau disagree with you using the land for tourism.
10. Setting priorities
Setting up a business takes a lot of work and time. Rural Māori often have many calls on their time. For those trying to set up business, it may mean doing less than you would like or less than other people want from you in the local community.
11. Staff
Training and keeping staff in a rural area can be difficult. You need to think about whether you want to bring people home to work or whether you might train people already living locally. Both paths can present problems and risks. People who come home to work in tourism may find it difficult to live in a quiet rural area without their mates, while those at home may not always have the skills needed to work with tourists.
12. Your product needs to be consistently available.
Your experience needs to be consistently available, especially over the summer months. How will your experience run if you are sick? If you are using a marae, how will you manage around a tangi?
13. Build networks.
Networks are particularly important for rural tourism businesses. It is through networks that you get customers and can work to market your business. These networks may well be with other businesses who you might view as competitors. In fact, businesses benefit greatly from finding ways to collaborate with other businesses in the local area to build the overall number of visitors.
14. Marketing is critical.
You have to find ways to identify and get contact with the people who have an interest in the kinds of experiences that you are providing. .In rural areas, not many people are passing your gate. Customers will not just turn up to buy your experience.
15. Access to services.
This may need some thought in rural areas. Services that you will probably need access to are computer technicians, a lawyer, and an accountant. You may also need to think about how you manage money and banking services. How will you manage cash and how will you get it to the bank?
16. Seasonality:
How will you support yourself during the off season. Many businesses see seasonality as a good thing – it gives them a break, and allows them to do some network building, development work, marketing and/or planning or to do something different.
17. Everything takes longer than you think it will
EVERYTHING!
Jo Doherty, Brenda Tahi, Chrys Horn
June 2008
Comments and feedback on this Growing Regional Māori Tourism site are welcomed and should be directed to Helen Fitt
(Email 
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