Building Local Economies & Sense of Place - Sandringham - Simon - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Tourism & Urban Development: Building Local Economies & Sense of Place - Sandringham - Simon Milne, Ulrich Speidel, Carolyn Deuchar, Suzanne Histen, Romy Fischer, Cassandra Rakei, Doris Bell

Key themes  We need jobs and strong communities – Visitors have a role  How do you attract and manage visitors? – Information is vital (signage, Internet)  Network enterprises and destinations – “We’re all in this together”  Community support and engagement is essential, tourism must sustain and enhance local quality of life – “Communities will work for tourism if tourism works for communities”  ‘Slow travel’ – Enhance opportunities for interaction

Source: areeweb.polito.it/didattica/chimica/images

A traditional way of slowing tourists down

Add to the experience … ??? Source: Stuart Dredge (www.techdigest.tv)

Or give them some information on road … Source: Interislander (www.interislander.co.nz/Our-Ships-And-Services/Kaitaki/iSITE.aspx)

Better still, give visitors the information they need before, during and after travel and ‘connect’ them as they travel … Source: LPHS (www.lphs.school.nz)

‘Local’ matters …  National and regional marketing and development (top-down) need to be supported by local content, information and collaboration (bottom-up)  Local stories and knowledge enhance the competitiveness and uniqueness of communities and destinations (the fabric)  Interactive tourists require interactive communities

Online Experience – Approach

Sandringham is not featured in these categories

A good number of events listed for Auckland  Unfortunately, filtering events that take  place in Sandringham is not possible

Online Experience – Summary National Level www.newzealand.com www.nz.com The common categories The common categories do   do not provide information not provide information on on Sandringham Sandringham Search for ‘Sandringham’ Search for ‘Sandringham’   brings up some results, only leads to links that do but does not inform about not work what to do in the area Filtering events taking place  in Sandringham is not possible Sandringham is invisible on a national level

Sandringham is not mentioned

Sandringham is not listed in any category

Online Experience – Summary Regional Level www.aucklandnz.com www.aucklandcity.govt.nz Sandringham is not featured Information on Sandringham   in the common categories is generally hard to find (e.g. ‘Where to go’) Sandringham’s unique feature  Some information about (Indian influence) is just  dining could be retrieved briefly mentioned (sense of Sandringham’s multicultural side) Search mainly leads to results  of interest for residents Interesting heritage walk  Some interesting information can be found, but a ‘sense of place’ is just barely conveyed

Information provided does not draw a  visitor to visit Sandringham However, a sense of community involvement  is conveyed

Unfortunately, there is no similar walk in Sandringham

 More than 160 businesses are listed at localfoot.co.nz  Provides address and Google Street View image  Does not link to company’s websites

More external links to obtain detailed background information would be helpful

Online Experience Google Wikipedia Search for ‘Sandringham’ Article provides interesting   yields to Wikipedia article, details about Sandringham’s maps of the area, community history, landmarks and sites and local businesses recreation opportunities Few internal and no external  links Portals arouse a potential visitor’s interest in Sandringham, but more links to background information would be helpful

Online Experience – Summary Social Media Little useful Very few tweets A Facebook user    about Sandringham information for cannot retrieve potential visitors helpful information are provided Sandringham is virtually invisible on Social Media platforms

Website has a local  focus Interesting  insight into what Sandringham’s residents are actively involved in Creates a sense of  a strong, lively community

Unfortunately, local businesses do not link back to the Sandringham Business Association

Onsite Experience: a visitor’s perspective

Onsite Experience – Sense of Place

Onsite Experience Sense of Place  Sandringham IS the spice capital of Auckland  Sense of a multicultural, lively community within a nice neighbourhood  Old buildings along the shopping area arouse a visitor’s interest  Identification of local businesses seems to be with either Eden Park or Sandringham  Nestled in between some of Auckland’s highest volcanoes

Onsite Experience – Events & Activities

Onsite Experience Events and Activities  Main things to do in the area are shopping and passing time in cafés  Many parks, playgrounds and little hideaways to meander  Lots of events “from the community, for the community”, but many are also of interest for visitors (markets, quiz nights at pubs)  However, finding information on events is rather difficult

Onsite Experience – Transport & Directions

Onsite Experience Transport and Directions  Getting to Sandringham from CBD with public transport is fairly easy  Lacks signage that is leading a visitor to the main shopping area  Unfortunately, there is no background information provided at sites of interest (e.g. Gribblehirst Park, old buildings in the shopping area)  Information on heritage walk could not be found onsite

Onsite Experience – Local Businesses

Onsite Experience Local Businesses  A great place to buy spices, exotic food and takeaways  Although some shops appear run-down from the outside, they are real gems on the inside  Surprising numbers of nice cafés that invite visitors to spend time  Staff at local businesses were talkative and very friendly  There are no obvious linkage between local businesses e.g. ‘village feel’ could be strengthened

A WAY FORWARD? Mile End, Montreal

Many references and external links

Local residents offer guided tours to visitors

The main street even has its own website

The Wikipedia article of Mile End’s main street contains detailed information and many internal as well as external links

The Montréal equivalent to aucklandnz.com

Searching ‘Mile End’ leads to a good number of diverse results

Searching for Mile End’s main street also yields to many results

Phase 1 Optimize existing Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 resources A low-cost option with immediate outcomes Identify Enhance Meet What’s on the Web? How can these Bring a group of key online resources be individuals/stakeholders better linked? together to improve and enhance existing web linkages and resources

Phase 2 Build human Optimize existing capital (skills, Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 resources local capacity) Create Train A group of people who can work Local linkers and influencers to improve the web presence (on-line visibility) and also onsite information

Phase 3 Build human Decision- Optimize existing capital (skills, Phase 4 Phase 5 resources support local capacity) Lay the foundation for a decision-support system Help Uncover Enable the area to better Find ways to support visitors understand its visitors and to grow a relationship with what they think of the Sandringham experience of visiting (information provision is key) Sandringham

Phase 4 Themed trails, Build human Optimize existing Decision- meanders and capital (skills, Phase 5 resources support local capacity) activities Build links to more individuals/stakeholders Develop Build on and develop themed trails, walks and activities, e.g. art, food, history

Phase 5 Build human Themed trails, Collecting Optimize existing Decision- capital (skills, meanders and resources support ‘our stories’ local capacity) activities Auckland’s ‘fabric’ Engage Sustained web-raising, community-generated digital content, stories, tips for travellers, local knowledge, traditional knowledge (e.g. biodiversity)

Thank you for your time www.nztri.org simon.milne@aut.ac.nz