Tautoko Tourism
MAORI TOURISM MENTORING
Tautoko Enterprise Support has always had a strong focus on assisting the tourism sector, especially Maori and Cultural tourism.
In 2009/10 Tautoko Enterprise Support delivered the Maori Tourism Mentoring Programme for the Ministry of Tourism. This programme assisted a number of Maori cultural tourism businesses around New Zealand to be more profitable and sustainable, by providing them with business assessment and mentoring support services. The support included a purpose-built programme for ten ‘first time’ businesses to participate at TRENZ 2010, as a delegate of the Ministry of Tourism.
With the review of the Ministry of Tourism in 2010, the programme was not continued, but Tautoko Enterprise Support continues to provide tourism mentoring via government assistance programmes or on a private capacity. The personnel available through Tautoko Tourism are:
Johnny Edmonds
 | Johnny Edmonds has tribal affiliation to the Ngapuhi Maori tribe in NZ. Johnny's university qualifications encompass land surveying, town planning and public policy. His work experience of 35+ years spans both land administration and the creative sector industries. Johnny has held positions of responsibility in the NZ government including Director of Planning for NZ national parks and reserves and Commissioner of Crown Lands. He has served in senior executive positions for NZ NGOs including Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum of NZ and Waitangi National Trust, Bay of Islands. Johnny has served as Chief Executive for Maori organisations including the Taitokerau Maori Regional Tourism Organisation and the NZ Maori Tourism Council. He also provided the Secretariat for the NZ Maori Creative Sector Alliance from 2008-2010. Johnny is currently based in Perth where he is Chief Executive Officer for Waitoc, the tourism association of the Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators. |
Dominic Moran
 | Dominic is of Irish and Scottish descent which his children share along with their Ngati Rarua and Ngati Toa ancestry. Dominic has Bachelors and Honours degrees in psychology and sociology from Canterbury University and a Doctorate degree in tourism from Lincoln University. He has worked on numerous tourism planning projects throughout New Zealand and has held senior management and executive positions in regional tourism. He is currently residing in Christchurch but frequently travels within Marlborough, West Coast and Nelson/Tasman. |
Craig Wilson
 | Craig runs his own tourism consultancy Quality Tourism Development Ltd and has worked for over 15 years in the New Zealand tourism industry. He is based in Nelson but travels to clients all over the country. He was previously General Manager, Marketing and acting Chief Executive for Tourism Auckland. Prior to that, Craig was Marketing Manager and Business Development Manager for Tranz Scenic. Craig has extensive experience in the cultural tourism sector and experience in working with small to medium businesses. This includes developing regional cultural tourism strategies for The Ministry of Tourism, developing and operating Tourism Fast Track - a training programme for owners and managers of tourism businesses, and an Assessor/Mentor for the Maori Tourism Facilitation Service. From his work in the tourism industry, Craig has gained valuable networks with TIANZ, Qualmark, Tourism NZ, The Ministry of Tourism, The Ministry for Cultural and Heritage, TPK and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise amongst others. |
Graeme Osborne
 | Graeme Osborne is a Pure Mathematics graduate from Massey University. Graeme has an extensive leadership and governance background in the visitor sector that includes developing, leading and recovering some of New Zealand’s icon tourism businesses (Rainbow’s End, Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World (leading the NZD20m Penguin exhibit development), The NZ Maori Arts & Crafts Institute (Te Puia) and the Waitomo Glow-worm Caves and Hotel). He holds or has held directorships at Te Puia, Manukau Leisure Services Ltd, The Visitor Information Network Ltd, The Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand, and was Chairman of the Auckland Visitor Marketing Workstream for the Rugby World Cup 2011. Graeme was Chief Executive of Tourism Auckland from October 2000 - September 2010. During this time he was a strong advocate for Maori tourism, having established the Maori Regional Tourism Organisation in Auckland and a taumata a iwi for Tourism Auckland. He led the development of Tamaki Hikoi, a guided Maori walk based on one of Auckland’s better known (dormant) volcanic cones, Maungawhau and has been a key driver of a Maori visitor experience concept for the Otuataua Stonefields in Manukau City. |
Michelle Ackers
| Michelle has an honours degree in Business Management, majoring in Marketing & International Business and she has completed additional studies in Internet Marketing. Michelle has travelled extensively and held a wide range of marketing and management roles including Air New Zealand, CourierPost and more recently Vianet International (online tourism software) which notably provided the accommodation network and booking system for Trade Me's Travelbug website. Her expertise and interest in website strategy and online marketing, particulary for tourism organisations, has developed strongly over the past 5 years, and Michelle now provides specialist consultancy and advice in the field of internet and online marketing through her company Adept Marketing. |
Robyn Bolton (Taitokerau)
| Robyn's career in tourism spans more than 25 years and encompasses hotel management and regional tourism marketing. She spent 8 years with Tourism Rotorua in domestic, PR, and Conference marketing roles before moving to Northland where she spent a further 9 years with Destination Northland, resigning from her role as General Manager in 2009. She now operates her own consultancy business, working with small and medium enterprises to help them capitalise on the benefits of tourism through targeted marketing, product development and product enhancement. iRobyn has a particular passion for the development of cultural tourism opportunities as a means of enhancing the visitor experience. She has developed and delivered a number of workshops on this topic, helping businesses to differentiate their product offerings. She maintains extensive industry networks. |