前回お届けした「第1回　ヨーロッパのまちを散策する」に続き、第2回目はマネジメントの視点から、まちの見方や楽しみ方を紹介します。今回はニュージーランドへみなさんをご招待します。

　

　

Fun, education and tourism in New Zealand: 
jobs for scientists and business for indigenous communities

　

It's like looking to a different planet: the view is partially covered by gas and the soil has different colors, with tones of orange and yellow we never saw before. There is a very unusual smell (not too nice). We see terraces of silica on the surface and many small geysers in permanent eruption. It's a totally unexpected experience, even if we had learned about this place thorough websites and social media before traveling. As in many other tourism services, people with good communication skills work to attract and inform potential visitors much before they arrive to the destination.

　

　

　

To reach this park, we crossed the Waikato River by boat. The tickets generate funds for the management of the park and allow to control the access to this sensitive area. The number of visitors remains small, avoiding large crowds and ensuring a very enjoyable experience. Wooden paths along the park offer a very safe and comfortable visit. The integrity and the natural characteristics of the place are protected. Scientific researchers working on the site prepare the conditions and infrastructures for the visit and monitor the impacts of travelers.

　

　

　

The place is also called "Hidden Valley", but the real name is Orakei Korako, a geothermal park located in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. It is close to the Lake Ohakuri and not far from the city of Roturua, where we spent a few days exploring the natural beauties of the northern island of New Zealand. There are many types of natural scenic spots, including huge tress aged hundreds or thousands of years, water falls, many types of birds and abundant hot springs. The names of these places keep the original denominations given by the Maori communities, the indigenous Polynesian tribes coming from Hawaii and staying in New Zealand after crossing the Pacific Ocean.

　

　

　

Later on we visited a "Maori village", a place to learn about Maori culture and traditions, while enjoying a very fun evening and a very tasty traditional dinner. Small buses collect the visitors in their accommodations and take them outside the city of Rotorua, where the "village" is located. Like in the geothermal park, the number of visitors is controlled by the transport system and not too many people enters the place. When arriving, we are received the way Maori tribes traditionally would receive people from other tribes, with their traditional dances and rituals.

　

　

After arriving, we were divided into small groups and followed different path along the village, stoping in different spots to attend short performances. We learnt about the history of the Maori, played traditional games, saw the traditional clothes or listened to their music. We even learnt the movements of the "Haka" dance, a traditional Maori ritual, popularized by the rugby team of New Zealand, the All Blacks. Finally we went to the dining area, where the dinner was being cooked under the warm soil.
　

　

　

All the evening was very informative, educative and fun. Many people were working to provide this performance, from bus drivers to cookers, including dancers, singers, storytellers, people organizing the place, serving the food or managing social media and webpages. Everybody working there was Maori and the company itself is owned by a Maori family. This was a good example of how tourism can support business and job opportunities for local communities.（Joao Romao准教授）

　

　

いかがでしたか？ニュージーランドにおいて観光をビジネスとして成り立たせるために、いろいろな仕組みや仕事が作られていることがわかっていただけたでしょうか？

　

次回は、おもてなしの視点からまちの見方や楽しみ方をご紹介します。お楽しみに！！