NZx: back to the future
Ata mārie
In our June blog we talked about cathedral thinking and how it might be applied to many of the “hot” topics facing New Zealand tourism.
This was top of my mind yesterday when I overheard a conversation about cruise ship visits. The local paper had reported that cruise ship numbers into Akaroa may double in the next ten years.The ensuring conversation wasn’t complimentary about this prospect, and I’m sure we will soon be hearing more about the perceived and real effects of this potential growth. This disconnect between tourism operators and local communities continues to underlie much of NZ tourism’s’ growth.
We think its about time cathedral thinking and action became a cornerstone of the NZ tourism experience.
One of the key proponents of this type of thinking is Rick Antonson former President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver, and Vice Chair of the Pacific Asia Travel Association based in Bangkok, Thailand.
As Antonson states “The concept of Cathedral Thinking stretches back to medieval times when architects, stonemasons and artisans laid plans and began construction of the soaring, cavernous structures that would one day serve as places of worship, community gathering spaces and safe havens. Those who began such work knew they’d never live to see their task completed. Yet their actions kept the living generation tethered to the future”
The concept of thinking as did these “cathedral builders”, is in Antonson’s mind synonymous with long term planning. Cathedral Thinking has been applied to space exploration, city planning, corporate mandates and other long-range goals that require decades of foresight and preparation so future generations can enjoy their full realization. Though there are many instances in which Cathedral Thinking can be applied, they all require the same foundation: a far-reaching vision, a well thought-out blueprint, and a shared commitment to long-term implementation.
A number of us were lucky enough to catch Rick’s keynote speech at the PATA Global Insights Conference in Auckland a couple of years ago.
You can catch one of Rick’s Tedx talks on the subject here.
It’s about time someone applied some cathedral thinking to New Zealand Inc and especially tourism!
It seems to us that it’s back to the future again….
Misguided or lack of action on topics such as the potential tourism levy, tourism’s environmental sustainability, short term political decisions around the Provincial Growth Fund, and little action on ensuring tourism has a social license to operate, are definitely not cathedral thinking!
Mā te wā
The sun slowly sets in Fiordland, is the same thing about to happen for NZ tourism?