Donna Brooke, President  ...

I feel a little zoomed out from the year that was, so it great to attend ‘in-person’ the TIA Summit in Wellington.  The main points that came out of the summit for me that I feel we can relate to our B&Bs were:

• You don’t want to resurrect an ailing brand.  It was something that Stuart Nash said.  It reassured me that the marketing we are doing now is needed and will help put a good foundation under our brand when we reopen again.  He certainly made it clear that it will not be ‘business as usual’ when we come back from this.
• TIA put forward their next 100 day focus:
• Reconnect
• Support viable tourism businesses
• Encourage innovation
• Get the knowledge we need
• Fill quiet times – the expectation is that there will be a real lull after Waitangi day.
• Stephen England-Hall talked about the domestic market wanting history, culture, hidden gems, community and an unique personal experience.

 It made me realise after the day was done that we all need to work on our sustainability commitment.  Both as a B&B operator and as an Association.  

I’ve continued to attend zoom meetings with the Domestic Marketing Group facilitated by TNZ and the Small Business Group facilitated by TIA.  Both groups not only help us be informed but also help to inform other major players out there with what we are about.

We’ve had another Coromandel Group meeting where there are certainly some changes among our members. 

The assessments of both new and existing member properties continue to tick along.

You can contact me on - president@bandbassociation.co.nz 

Fiona Rollings, Association Secretary ...

The last couple of months have been a super busy time for me.  

In October I attended a conference for Association Executives in Wellington.  This is the second time I have attended this conference and it is extremely worth while.  This year I was asked to be part of the conference opening - a video clip of five Association Executives who were asked what their Association had done post-covid for their members.  I talked about our webinar series and in particular how we were able to give our members a tool to help them grow their business (Google My Business Webinar).  The topics of most interest were Revenue Streams, Health & Safety and Lobbying Politicians.

Donna and I attended the TIA Summit.  This was a fantastic opportunity to listen to industry experts and catch up with major industry players. For me the most interesting speaker was Greg Foran, CE of Air New Zealand who started in the role just days before covid-19 closed the world!

Finally, putting the notes I took at the first conference to good use, I had a meeting with Stuart Nash, Minister of Tourism, who happens to also be my local MP.  I meet with him as my local MP rather than the Minister (thus avoiding a formal lobbying trip to Wellington) and so was only able to discuss issues relating to my business rather than national issues.  However, we had a very interesting discussion and I was able to introduce the NZ B&B product to him, the type of guests who stayed at B&Bs (typically 80% international guests), the difference between B&B and Airbnb(!) and some of the issues small B&B businesses are facing.  

To contact Fiona - email secretary@bandbassociation.co.nz

Liz Webster, Wanaka  ...

The Wanaka group has been VERY active this past month with coffee mornings hosted at Wanaka Alpine Lodge as well as cafes in town.  A steering committee of three with the support of the wider group has done a lot of work as we draw to the completion of our brand development and marketing project.  We have employed a Marketing company called The Muster to assist with parts of this work. They have assisted us create a bold new brand strategy, a new name for the group, new logo and alongside this create a fresh new brand identity for our sector of hosted accommodation in Wanaka.  We have put Wanaka Bed & Breakfast to one side as we know the bed and breakfast brand has been sullied  /muddled over time by Airbnb.  Watch this space as we launch this for our summer season prior to Christmas and work to help the domestic market engage with us as a quality provider of hosted accommodation

It’s been an enormous lot of work and taking the whole group on the journey has made us a much stronger group. We have lost members due to sale of property (Ferryman’s cottage is closed and up for auction next Friday.) Riverview terrace has closed. Joanne's BNB is no longer operating.  We are planning a Christmas gathering at Maple Lodge (making food potluck).  Great to use our own resources in hard financial times and gather together in a great member property. We have had new non-members join our coffee gatherings whom we hope will go on to be members.

You can contact Liz on - stay@webstersonwanaka.co.nz

Glenn Gairdner, Matamata  ...

Festive greetings from Villa Walton in Matamata. Well we've been super busy getting the house ready for sale while still providing accommodation to our guests. We have decided to sell Villa Walton and look to purchase more land so we can offer functions and events as well as providing accommodation. The marketing from our real estate agents has gone really well and we've had some great feedback from potential buyers. Apart from that, we've still had a steady stream of guests over each weekend and a few during the week. What has been great to see are bookings coming thru for 2022 and a lot of them are guests who had to cancel due to COVID, long may that last.

You can contact Glenn on - info@villawalton.co.nz