i-Site visitor information centre general manager Harriet Dixon and Te Awamutu Business Chamber chief executive Shane Walsh
Te Awamutu Business Chamber has taken Destination Te Awamutu under its wing to ensure the continuation of Te Awamutu i-Site Visitor Information Centre.
Te Awamutu information centre. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
To the public eye, everything will remain the same.
The reassurance comes after the closure of Cambridge’s centre on June 30 following Waipā District Council pulling funding, cutbacks, a rent increase and Riverside Adventures’ decision to move out of the Town Hall space.
Destination Cambridge, which previously ran the i-Site before handing over to Riverside, has switched to a digital presence.
The Te Awamutu i-Site covers the wider Waipā region.
i-Site visitor information centre general manager Harriet Dixon and Te Awamutu Business Chamber chief executive Shane Walsh. Photo: Jesse Wood
“The Te Awamutu Business Chamber believes that Destination Te Awamutu does a job that’s important and everyone benefits from it. Businesses and residential alike,” business chamber chief executive Shane Walsh said.
“Both boards have agreed that we disestablish the incorporated society of Destination Te Awamutu. It will still operate as it does now, but it’s under the umbrella of the chamber’s incorporated society. That way, it saves costs.
“Destination Te Awamutu also gets a lot of online visitors. That’s why the business community wants to make sure that when people look at Te Awamutu online, that we’re presenting the best possible face and encouraging people to come.”
Walsh said the chamber doesn’t have money to fund the centre, but they can help Destination Te Awamutu save money and become more sustainable.
The Public Relations Office in 1980, now Te Awamutu Information Centre.
Destination Te Awamutu will become a sub-committee of the chamber and remain an i-Site.
“Coming under the umbrella of the chamber saves some compliance costs. The chamber will look after those functions,” Walsh said.
i-Site visitor information centre general manager Harriet Dixon said it makes sense to be linked with the businesses.
The Public Relations Office expanded in 1991
Dixon is the only full-time employee alongside several volunteers. Without the volunteers, they couldn’t keep the doors open.
“We are promoting local businesses and encouraging people to come to the town,” Dixon said. “This is a way to cut our outgoings. As a not-for profit, it’s important that we’re careful with our money and this is a way to be able to do that.”
At present, funding comes via instore souvenir retail, hiring out the Burchell Pavilion and the Rosetown Monthly Fair.
Walsh said the Te Awamutu community need their i-Site.
“When the council cut funding, the community said, we’re going to start a petition. We have all these signatures of people who want to keep it open. We’re responding to that. The community has given a strong signal,” Walsh said.
“As the chamber, we’re going to use our knowledge and skills to help Destination Te Awamutu become sustainable.”
The Te Awamutu Business Chamber want to ensure the continuation of the Te Awamutu i-Site Visitor Information Centre. Photo: Jesse Wood
