Japanese pop group boosts Waikato tourism

The Waikato tourism industry got a major boost in a Japanese TV show watched by millions of people which aired this week.

The screening followed  a Japanese pop group’s whirlwind tour to Hamilton and Waitomo.

The all girl group, AKB48, were in New Zealand to shoot their TV show which takes them all around the world to search for “the phantom universe”.

The group has 48 official members who are split into three separate teams. They have their own theatre, three TV shows and in 2011 they were one of the highest earning pop groups in the world with reported record sales in excess of $US200 million.

Craig Muntz from Aotearoa Experience organised the Hamilton leg of AKB48’s journey and said it is a huge opportunity to promote the Waikato tourism sector to the Asian market.

“The publicity that we can get from this in Japan will be significant in terms of promoting the heritage of this region but also from a cultural tourism perspective,” he said.

The global tourism industry is a competitive one, Mr Muntz said, and New Zealand tour operators need to do all they can to get an edge.

“We are competing against other countries so the first challenge is to get people to Aotearoa/New Zealand and the second challenge is to get them here to Waikato and Hamilton.”

Waikato has a battle on its hands to take a slice of the pie from Rotorua, Taupo and Queenstown but with attractions such as the Waitomo caves, Te Parapara Gardens, Te Awa River Walks and Matamata’s Hobbiton it has the potential to make inroads. But Mr Muntz said the major catalyst to attracting visitors to the region is in traditional arts and cultural heritage.

“The awareness of Hamilton and the awareness of Maori culture in the region has increased,” he said. “People are seeking something more traditional, some community grounded experience with a bit more integrity and that’s what we can offer here.

“It’s very competitive but things like this certainly assist in gaining and maintaining competitive advantage and distinctiveness in the cultural tourism market.”

The AKB48 girls were welcomed to the Te Parapara Gardens with a powhiri complete with a full Maori challenge, taught how to swing a poi, and learned the haka.

“Everything was a surprise to them, “ said Mr Muntz. “They were not aware of anything that was going on today and they responded in a very positive way.”

The producer of the Australasian leg of the trip, Tony Fry said, “we wanted the girls to experience the traditional part of New Zealand. Basically we wanted the girls to learn about the culture.”

The episode screened on a show that averages 8.5 million television viewers weekly.

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