HAGEN HOPKINS PHOTOGRAPHY
Matt Claridge is the executive director of Te Araroa Trust, responsible for administering New Zealand’s longest walking trail, Te Araroa, some 3000km running the length of New Zealand.
Te Araroa trail towns like St Arnaud could be reaping the economic benefits by servicing the needs of walkers, the trail’s chief executive director Matt Claridge told councillors on Thursday.
Claridge said a Nelson Marlborough Te Araroa regional trust was being set up to “service the needs of the trail in the top of the South Island”.
Part of their role would be to “form a strong relationship with DOC to support maintenance on the DOC estate”.
“Obviously DOC’s under increasing pressure to manage assets, and Te Araroa is a ‘nice to have’ but not an essential core business for them.”
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Te Araroa was quickly emerging even at its infancy as one of the “most popular top 10 through hikes” in the world, Claridge said.
The majority of walkers travelled from north to south over 150 days, and 80% were international visitors.
Over the 2022/2023 season, 4000 walkers started their journey, spending an estimated $130 to $180 per day, injecting from $78 million to $108 million into the economy.
Within the Tasman region, 158km of trail passed through the district, or 5% of the trail.
Andy MacDonald/Stuff
The view from Kerr Bay of Lake Rotoiti. “We see St Arnaud as being a really special place that we can develop a stronger association with Te Araroa,” Te Araroa Trust chief executive director Matt Claridge said. “There are more services that could be offered.”
Claridge said the Richmond Ranges presented the “most difficult of terrain for Te Araroa”, which most walkers “build up to”.
“It is a tough, tough walk, looking at about nine days from Pelorus Bridge through to St Arnaud, and then another seven days from St Arnaud going south to Boyle River. Therein really lies the opportunity as we’re presenting that to territorial authorities for economic development.”
Te Araroa was developing a concept called Trail Towns, that offered services to benefit walkers, typically following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
“We see the Nelson Lakes National Park, and therefore the Tasman district, as being a really central part of one of those,” Claridge said.
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“Most importantly, after seven or eight days in the wilderness, they (walkers) want to hit a cafe or restaurant and get a nice big feed.”
Walkers would need somewhere to sleep, food to cook themselves, and “most importantly, after seven or eight days in the wilderness, they want to hit a cafe or restaurant and get a nice big feed”.
After that, they’d be interested in a drink and rest and recreation, which were areas Te Araroa was interested in exploring.
They were also developing three to four-day walks for regions to be able to “take hold of”, and market and promote themselves.
Bryan de Rooy/Supplied
Panoramic views and the perfect day greeted Bryan de Rooy on the Tasman’s Waiau Pass as he took a cuppa break during his Te Araroa trail mission. Video first published December 22 2022.
Claridge said Te Araroa walkers often “got a bad name”, because of the “pre-career segment” that wanted to walk the trail “as cheap as possible”.
“We’re more interested in the market that’s sort of age 45-plus, late career, not quite as much time on their hands as if they’re early retirees, but certainly have the inclination to be in the outdoors, engage in ecotourism, and spend money.”