Te Manahuna Ki Uta - shaping our tourism values for the future.

Consultation has concluded

What do you think?

The project team has been working hard in the background to bring together a huge amount of material that will help shape the Destination Management Plan. This will inform what the future looks like in Te Manahuna and how Tourism can be managed in a way that improved the experience for locals, visitors, manawhenua and businesses.

We have summarised this in the below discussion document.

Te Manahuna Ki Uta / Destination Mackenzie Discussion Document (PDF 7MB)

We are now looking for community feedback on the vision, future state and proposed ideas and projects. To let us know what you think please fill out the below survey.


Latest Updates

Stakeholder Reference Group Webinar Recording, 30 March 2022


Te Manahuna Ki Uta

Te Manahuna/Mackenzie is an incredibly special place. It’s a World Heritage Area and offers some of the best stargazing on earth. It’s been recognised as an Outstanding Natural Landscape due to its expansive basins with open grassland and valleys created by braided rivers.

For manawhenua, it is a significant cultural landscape, the home to Aoraki, a place where traditional trails meet, activities such as mahika kai have sustained whānau for generations, and tīpuna live and provide an unbreakable connection to the past.

It’s not just local people who love living and working here either, this region has a unique and fragile ecosystem that’s home to hundreds of threatened, at risk or endangered species of indigenous animals and plants, some of which are not found anywhere else in Aotearoa.

What is a Destination Management Plan?

How do we strike the right balance, keep what we love about living and visiting here, and create a more sustainable future for Te Manahuna/ the Mackenzie Basin?

The purpose of the Te Manahuna Ki Uta/Destination Mackenzie Project is to develop a long-term strategic Destination Management Plan for the Te Manahuna/ Mackenzie District as part of a wider tourism journey that includes Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, the upper Waitaki Valley and the Lindis Pass.

The long-term goal is to achieve a vibrant, dynamic, and sustainable future: one that speaks to visitors and our community - manawhenua, locals, farmers, adventure seekers, artists and conservationists.

We are mapping out a more sustainable future for our taoka (treasure). The DMP will explore options to chart the way forward with regard to our visitor economy. This will inform investment planning across agencies to:

  • manage pressure on infrastructure, conservation values, communities and the environment.
  • deliver on community aspirations for the district.
  • deliver on the strategic priorities of the member agencies and mana whenua.
  • protect the cultural values and history within the environment.
  • recover from the COVID-19 event in the form of a reset to value-based tourism.

Want to know more?

To learn more please take a look at the Te Manahuna Ki Uta / Destination Mackenzie Discussion Document below

Te Manahuna Ki Uta / Destination Mackenzie Discussion Document (PDF 7MB)


Next steps

May 2022 - Analysis of Engagement Results

The results of the community engagement will be analysed, and the results provided to the project team for consideration.

June 2022 - Draft Destination Management Plan

Using the results of the community engagement and detailed economic analysis, the Destination Management will be drafted and shared with agency partners for review.

August 2022 - Adoption of Destination Management Plan

If approved, the Spatial Plans will be used to help shape the future of Te Manahuna as a destination, guiding investment and ensuring we protect and grow in a sustainable way.

What do you think?

The project team has been working hard in the background to bring together a huge amount of material that will help shape the Destination Management Plan. This will inform what the future looks like in Te Manahuna and how Tourism can be managed in a way that improved the experience for locals, visitors, manawhenua and businesses.

We have summarised this in the below discussion document.

Te Manahuna Ki Uta / Destination Mackenzie Discussion Document (PDF 7MB)

We are now looking for community feedback on the vision, future state and proposed ideas and projects. To let us know what you think please fill out the below survey.


Latest Updates

Stakeholder Reference Group Webinar Recording, 30 March 2022


Te Manahuna Ki Uta

Te Manahuna/Mackenzie is an incredibly special place. It’s a World Heritage Area and offers some of the best stargazing on earth. It’s been recognised as an Outstanding Natural Landscape due to its expansive basins with open grassland and valleys created by braided rivers.

For manawhenua, it is a significant cultural landscape, the home to Aoraki, a place where traditional trails meet, activities such as mahika kai have sustained whānau for generations, and tīpuna live and provide an unbreakable connection to the past.

It’s not just local people who love living and working here either, this region has a unique and fragile ecosystem that’s home to hundreds of threatened, at risk or endangered species of indigenous animals and plants, some of which are not found anywhere else in Aotearoa.

What is a Destination Management Plan?

How do we strike the right balance, keep what we love about living and visiting here, and create a more sustainable future for Te Manahuna/ the Mackenzie Basin?

The purpose of the Te Manahuna Ki Uta/Destination Mackenzie Project is to develop a long-term strategic Destination Management Plan for the Te Manahuna/ Mackenzie District as part of a wider tourism journey that includes Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, the upper Waitaki Valley and the Lindis Pass.

The long-term goal is to achieve a vibrant, dynamic, and sustainable future: one that speaks to visitors and our community - manawhenua, locals, farmers, adventure seekers, artists and conservationists.

We are mapping out a more sustainable future for our taoka (treasure). The DMP will explore options to chart the way forward with regard to our visitor economy. This will inform investment planning across agencies to:

  • manage pressure on infrastructure, conservation values, communities and the environment.
  • deliver on community aspirations for the district.
  • deliver on the strategic priorities of the member agencies and mana whenua.
  • protect the cultural values and history within the environment.
  • recover from the COVID-19 event in the form of a reset to value-based tourism.

Want to know more?

To learn more please take a look at the Te Manahuna Ki Uta / Destination Mackenzie Discussion Document below

Te Manahuna Ki Uta / Destination Mackenzie Discussion Document (PDF 7MB)


Next steps

May 2022 - Analysis of Engagement Results

The results of the community engagement will be analysed, and the results provided to the project team for consideration.

June 2022 - Draft Destination Management Plan

Using the results of the community engagement and detailed economic analysis, the Destination Management will be drafted and shared with agency partners for review.

August 2022 - Adoption of Destination Management Plan

If approved, the Spatial Plans will be used to help shape the future of Te Manahuna as a destination, guiding investment and ensuring we protect and grow in a sustainable way.

Consultation has concluded

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