Tourism and Disaster Risk Reduction on the West Coast, South Island, New Zealand: key findings from a workshop held on 10th April 2015, Hokitika

Abstract

In 2014 the CDEM Resilience Fund (see http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/cdemsector/ cdem-resilience-fund/ via West Coast Regional Council contracted Lincoln University to undertake an evaluation of tourism and disaster risk reduction planning in Northland with a view to informing further improvements and initiatives with a subsequent particular emphasis on the West Coast of the South Island. The work was designed to be a two-stage process involving: 1. Evaluating the success or otherwise of implementation of Visitor Action Plans in Northland, and 2. Using lessons from that evaluation to consider, via a workshop process, what lessons might be applied to tourism and DRR planning and management on the West Coast of the South Island. The first stage of this research has been reported in Hughey and Becken (2014). The second stage is the focus of this briefreport. The report first summarises the research and management context around tourism and DRR in New Zealand and reviews the key findings and recommendations from the Northland experience; next it outlines the workshopping process undertaken on the West Coast and resulting key findings; finally it identifies the main conclusions for further management and policy considerations.