Tourism is one of the most exciting industries in the Waitaki district these days and few know it better than outgoing Tourism Waitaki general manager Jason Gaskill. Hamish MacLean sat down with him to talk about the transformation of the district from being relatively obscure to becoming increasingly sought-after as a destination.
The timing is right to step away, Tourism Waitaki general manager Jason Gaskill says.
He will stay until his successor is found and will continue to take a keen interest in tourism generally.
But he is walking away from his role and says now is the time to do it.
He expects big things from the industry in North Otago.
``I think the potential here is almost untapped - I think we're just on the cusp of what is possible here and in a way I think that is what has spurred me to consider the timing of stepping down.
``I've been here a while - nine years, give or take, within the organisation and within the industry here - I've seen a lot of change and the organisation has been privileged to be part of that.
``The next stages, the next steps, where those next plateaus are, I think it would be really good for the district, for the organisation - for everything - to have fresh eyes come in and look around and just look at what the potential is without having come through everything.''
Because, in a way, Mr Gaskill has come through it all.
He was working for a Dunedin firm helping Tourism Waitaki, the former Waitaki Development Board, and the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony with ``branding work'' and decided it was time for him to move on from the advertising world.
In September 2008, he became manager of the penguin colony and nearly five years later took on his current role.
Tourism Waitaki, which includes the iSite, the regional tourism organisation (RTO), and events and conference bureau roles, employs roughly 40 people, or about 27 full-time equivalents.
The council-controlled organisation has revenue of about $3million a year.
One of its key operations, the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, attracts about 70,000 paying users, double the number of 2008.
The Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail has up to 4000 multi-day users a year.
And along the trail, including locals using it, there are 12,000 to 15,000 different users a year.
Tourism Waitaki has recently completed a $700,000 refit of the penguin colony.
Whitestone City, a joint venture with the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust, was finished this winter at a cost of $600,000.
And Alps 2 Ocean is nearing the end of the construction phase and starting to enter a new ``strategic'' phase.
A few months after Mr Gaskill started at Tourism Waitaki, the Waitaki Development Board had ``evolved'' and became focused on tourism activity; its new role was subsumed by the organisation.
``We were given the opportunity to develop our business units such that we could provide better expanded, more comprehensive services without putting an onerous burden on the ratepayer base.
``Just in terms of our economic profile we are in the top half, actually, probably the top third of RTOs, because of those changes, because our structure allows us to actively engage in the tourism industry. We control a little bit more of our own destiny in terms of our organisation.''
Mr Gaskill entered Tourism Waitaki with a ``blank slate'' and he wanted his successor to have ``that same freedom''.
However, some of his reasons for leaving were ``quite personal''.
``It's also for me. There are some other things in my working career that I would love to do and love to accomplish,'' he said.
He had no definite plans but ``would love to do some contracting work'' and he wanted flexibility.
Christchurch Airport had brought in ``very, very big numbers very quickly'' to the whole South Island, but in-bound international trade was ``not the only plank that we've got building on our platform now''.
Food lovers could start at well-known North Otago spots such as Fleur's Place and Riverstone Kitchen and eat their way down to the Bluff oysters, he said.
Wildlife tourists could start at Kaikoura, and hit Akaroa, Oamaru, Dunedin, the Catlins, all the way down to Stewart Island.
Waitaki had a burgeoning wine region in the Waitaki Valley, as well as Omarama's hot tubs and gliding, which complemented Otago's profile.
``It wasn't an either/or situation [for tourists anymore],'' he said.
``They would do all of them.
``What we started to see was that's what people were keen on.
``The more that we could put those kinds of things together, the more interest we could see.''
