The business that wants to change a town

Kohutapu Lodge and Tribal Tours, near the tiny Bay of Plenty town of Murupara, is using ‘real-life tourism’ to build their business, inspire the next generation and grow their town. 

Nadine and Karl ToeToe, of Kohutapu Lodge and Tribal Tours, near the tiny Bay of Plenty town of Murupara, have a simple vision they have put into five words: “Change a town through tourism.” 

Once a thriving forestry and mill town, today Murupara has a high unemployment rate and has garnered a not-always-justified image of boarded-up shops, rampant graffiti and prominent gang associations.  

But Nadine told media at Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s annual TRENZ event earlier this year, it is a town of beautiful people with wonderful stories and, most of all, amazing children. 

It’s also on the doorstep of the natural wonders of the Whirinaki Forest Park with its lakes, waterfalls, ancient Maori rock art, and is the ancestral home of Ngati Manawa. 

The business, which they started four years ago, is also benefiting from Nadine’s many years in tourism, most recently as the national sales and marketing manager for the well-known Tamaki Heritage Group. While the couple were working happily in the city for many years they decided they were “making a life but not living the lessons that were important to us”.  

So they headed home to start their business. 

Through Kohutapu Lodge and Tribal Tours the couple offers guided cultural tours, traditional food (hangi and indigenous gourmet BBQ) and a good number of other activities including hunting and fishing, waka paddling, night time eeling, cooking classes, weaving, and boat and kayak hire.  

But most important, in Nadine’s eyes, is that they take their visitors into the community to the local schools to meet and interact with the school children who, Nadine says, are a pivotal part of their tourism operation. 

A big part of Maori business is investing into the future and by taking their visitors into the town and community they show them where their contribution goes. She sees their business as “real-life tourism”. 

“Kids have no filter and at the end of the visit it is hard to get the visitors back on the bus as they develop such a strong connection with the kids.” 

The visitors, she says, are teaching the local children that the world is a bigger place than just Murupara. A video of a few of the school children has them explaining that these international visitors teach them languages, teach them about other countries and give them the opportunity “to go places”. The kids are proud to be Maori and love sharing their stories with the world. 

At the TRENZ event Nadine made special mention of one child in the school who is hearing impaired and couldn’t connect with other children or his teachers, despite a cochlear implant.  

Then one day Ross from Scotland, who also had a cochlear implant, was among the international visitors meeting the school children. The two bonded and the wee lad, who usually hid when the visitors arrived, that day was running and jumping and playing. “His teacher was crying,” says Nadine. 

The visitors also deliver meals to the school, packing up the kai and taking it to the children. Each year Kohutapu chooses one class to go on a trip around New Zealand and this year they are aiming to take a class offshore.  

For Nadine, it always comes down to the kids. She says the business can help local school children with career opportunities, internships and work experience. Some of the children come from families coping with four generations of unemployment and while once they might have wanted to work at McDonalds, now, after meeting these visitors and learning about the wider world, they talk about becoming a pilot or graphic designer. 

Vital connections 

Unemployment in Murupara is reportedly around 27 percent and Nadine says of those that are employed many work for less than $25,000 a year as seasonal workers or in part-time positions.  

One major supporter is Air New Zealand and Nadine says they are fortunate to have this support and have grown much faster as a result.  

Air New Zealand staff came on a familiarisation visit and could see the connection between their business and the business Karl and Nadine were creating and they have “taken us under their wing”.  They help by providing knowledge and market intelligence and help the couple share their stories. 

When asked what other larger businesses could do to help them Nadine told NZBusiness her wero (challenge) to others was to look within their own communities “because our story is not a standalone story and plenty of other communities have some struggles too”.   

She and Karl don’t yet draw a wage from Kohutapu Lodge and Tribal Tours but are happy they are creating employment in the town. 

The image of Murupara might include a prevalence of gangs but she says this is a small aspect of the community and while there have been negative stories there is negativity in every town and city.  

And to illustrate the point she recounts a story about Karl taking a busload of visitors through the town when a gang convention was underway. The weather on the day meant the windows were fogging up and the visitors began wiping down the windows so they could see as they drove past the gang convention. The gang members thought they were being waved at and began waving back at the busload of tourists. 

As Nadine told the TRENZ media event, “This is not a sob story, this is our story. It is a story of survival – this is our reality. And we’re pretty damned proud of it”.