Tourism & Urban Development: Building Local Economies & Sense of Place - Greenwoods Corner - Simon Milne, Ulrich Speidel, Carolyn Deuchar, Suzanne Histen, Romy Fischer, Cassandra Rakei
Tourism & Urban Development:
Building Local Economies & Sense of Place - Greenwoods Corner -
Simon Milne, Ulrich Speidel, Carolyn Deuchar, Suzanne Histen,
Romy Fischer, Cassandra Rakei
Key themes
We need jobs and strong communities – Visitors have a role to play
How do you attract and manage visitors? – Information is vital (signage, Internet)
Slow travel – Enhance opportunities for interaction
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”
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, destinations and nations (the fabric)
Interactive tourists require interactive communities
Online Experience – Approach
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60 results
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… little results found
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Photograph with map showing
Greenwoods Corner
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Online Experience – Summary International Level
www.google.com
Good links to
restaurants and cafés with many results shown on Google Maps
www.wikipedia.com
No listings in
Wikipedia
Links are irrelevant
www.yahoo.com Good links,
including facebook page
Good links to blogs with positive comments
Good potential in links that can attract visitors, however more information on the history of Greenwoods
Corner is encouraged
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Online Experience – Summary National Level
www.newzealand.com
Common categories do not provide information on Greenwoods Corner
No results when searching ‘Greenwoods Corner’
www.nz.com
One result for Greenwoods Corner, but link is inactive
Greenwoods Corner is invisible on a national level
REG
ION
AL
Greenwoods Corner is not mentioned in
any of the main
categories
Links shown are not related to Greenwoods Corner
REG
ION
AL
Greenwoods Corner has no
listings for shopping areas
REG
ION
AL
2 results when searching
‘Greenwoods Corner’
REG
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AL
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Online Experience – Summary Regional Level
www.aucklandnz.com
Greenwoods Corner is not featured in any list (e.g. ‘Where to go’ or ‘What to do’)
Dining options link to
different areas Little found in listings for
‘Shopping’ search
www.aucklandcity.govt.nz
Relatively few results when searching ‘Greenwoods Corner’
Based on the information provided on the regional level, a visitor will most likely not be led to Greenwoods Corner
All restaurants are in the area
Good star ratings
REG
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Online Experience – Summary National Level
www.viewauckland.co.nz
Good links to surrounding restaurants
Positive customer reviews
Restaurants have websites
www.menus.co.nz
Good list of restaurants in area
Excellent star ratings
Needs more ratings for other restaurants
www.aucklandrestaurants.net
One listing for Greenwoods Corner, however the link does not work
The same three restaurants pop up in search engines. Based on their websites and customer reviews a person can
be convinced to visit these.
Link to YouTube
REG
ION
AL
Suggests Greenwoods Corner
Has links for other websites
REG
ION
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Online Experience – Regional Level
Good blog with pictures in
‘Short walks’
Suggests Greenwoods Corner
Good results for restaurants
Links with other restaurants
www.walkinauckland.com www.yellow.co.nz
The impression for good food and restaurants as well as the strong link to One Tree Hill continues for Greenwoods Corner
Videos of train and bush walk
SO
CIA
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Suggests Greenwoods
Corner
Only found this link from Short Walks
website
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Facebook page
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Linkages between local businesses
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TWO Facebook pages!!
Twitter page
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Greenwoods Corner has shown a good start utilising social media networks
Two facebook pages with some activity and pictures from local businesses
Online Experience – Summary Social Media
Links are to different places
Little useful
information for a visitor
Good start with Twitter page, but only 1 tweet in January
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Over 60 volunteers!
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In a nutshell
Greenwoods Corner presents a strong sense of community and
historical significance to One Tree Hill Things to do in Greenwoods Corner are mainly connected to
One Tree Hill
The impression of good restaurants and cafés is continuous in the online experience
Greenwoods Corner shows a good start to utilising website media and social networks
Some online linkages are made, but it is with the same 3
restaurants throughout the internet
Onsite Experience from a visitor’s perspective
Onsite Experience – Sense of Place
Onsite Experience
Visitors feel welcome from the moment they enter Greenwoods Corner
Identification of local businesses with the area seems to be very strong
“It felt like being amongst a family”
Great diversity of shops compared to the area’s size
Attention is also drawn towards One Tree Hill
Sense of Place
Onsite Experience – Local information
Onsite Experience
Main things to do in the area are browsing through shops and passing
time in cafés
Events in Greenwoods Corner and surrounding suburbs are being promoted by shops and the community notice board
Good overview of the area’s history is provided
Difficulties to find signage leading a visitor to One Tree Hill
Events and Activities
Onsite Experience – Transport & Directions
Onsite Experience
Getting to Greenwoods Corner from CBD with public transport is fairly
easy with bus stops stating ‘Greenwoods Corner’
An excellent amount of FREE off-street car parks in the middle and side streets of Greenwoods Corner
Good signage for public facilities
Considering the branding relationship of Greenwoods Corner with One Tree Hill there was a lack of signage that directed visitors to access points for One Tree Hill
Transport and Directions
Onsite Experience – Local Businesses
Onsite Experience
A high level of service and quality of food is visible
Staff at local businesses were talkative and very friendly
The linkage between shops is noticeable through member signs
A strong sense of pride and detail is felt from each store
Many long-established businesses whose owners can tell interesting stories
Local Businesses
A WAY FORWARD?
Mile End, Montreal
Many internal links to retrieve further information
Interesting information on the history and a good number of attractive pictures
Many references and external links
Local residents offer guided tours to visitors
The Montréal equivalent to aucklandnz.com
Searching ‘Mile End’ leads to a good number of diverse results
Phase 1
Identify
What’s on the Web?
Enhance
How can these online resources be better linked?
Meet
Bring a group of key individuals/stakeholders together to improve and enhance existing web linkages and resources
A low-cost option with immediate outcomes
Optimize existing resources Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 2
Phase 2
Optimize existing resources
Build human capital (skills, local capacity)
Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5
Create
Train
A group of people who can work to improve the web presence (on-line visibility) and also onsite information
Local linkers and influencers
Phase 3
Help
Enable the area to better understand its visitors and what they think of the experience of visiting Greenwoods Corner
Uncover
Find ways to support visitors to grow a relationship with Greenwoods Corner (information provision is key)
Lay the foundation for a decision-support system
Optimize existing resources
Decision-support Phase 4 Phase 5
Build human capital (skills, local capacity)
Phase 4
Develop
Build on and develop themed trails, walks and activities, e.g. art, food, history
Build links to more individuals/stakeholders
Optimize existing resources
Themed trails, meanders and
activities Phase 5 Decision-
support Build human capital (skills, local capacity)
Phase 5
Optimize existing resources
Collecting ‘our stories’
Decision- support
Build human capital (skills, local capacity)
Themed trails, meanders and
activities
Engage
Sustained web-raising, community-generated digital content, stories, tips for travellers, local knowledge, traditional knowledge (e.g. biodiversity)
Auckland’s ‘fabric’