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Case study: Waitangi Treaty Grounds

This case study has been authored as part of the Northland Sustainable Tourism Project. It sets out Waitangi Treaty Grounds’s perspectives of their experiences and the resources they dedicated to the process.

1. Business background

Business type

Visitor attraction

Photo of waka at Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Main products

Tours, cultural experiences, walks

Number of staff

12 full time staff

15 casual / permanent part-timers

Number of sites you operate from

One

How long has your company been in business?

Since 1932

What are your main markets?

70% international

30% domestic

What factors affect the success of your business?

The main factors that influence the business are:

  • international events effecting international arrivals
  • maintaining and further developing quality products / visitor services
  • profile in the market place.

2. Sustainable business practices

What does sustainability mean to your business?

Ensuring that Waitangi Treaty Grounds recognise and respect all three of the Triple Bottom Lines — economic, environmental and socio-cultural.

What sustainable business practices was your company using before being involved in this project?

Waitangi Treaty Grounds had a number of sustainability actions already in place to provide a foundation for this project including:

  • a high level of support to local schools and charities
  • an active native replanting and regeneration program
  • initiated action to improve waste management practices, through Slash Trash
  • a high level of awareness and communication of energy efficiency objectives and water conservation measures.

What was involved for your company in the project?

The sustainability assessment involved focusing on the three aspects of Waitangi Treaty Ground’s triple bottom line impacts on the business (financial, environmental and socio-cultural initiatives).

The process was designed around a sustainable practices checklist to obtain an overview of actual and potential sustainability risks and opportunities. An on-site assessment was then conducted to obtain more in-depth information about Waitangi Treaty Ground’s operation. Out of the checklist and on-site assessment came a detailed sustainability report, where recommendations were outlined, with an emphasis on the environment.

Where did the motivation come from to become involved in this project?

Waitangi Treaty Grounds were invited to participate by the Tai Tokerau Maori and Cultural Tourism Association. We also saw it as a way to evaluate our current sustainability status and make improvements for the future.

Who has been involved in the project to date and why?

A range of personnel partook in the assessment, reflecting the “team” involvement crossing all areas of the business:

  • General Manager
  • Manager
  • Enterprise Manager
  • Operations Manager
  • Field Team Manager.

How much time did your business spend on this initiative?

The enterprise and general managers spent over three hours on the high level analysis and preparing for the on-site assessment.

The on-site assessment required a day and a half and the input of four full time staff — the general, the enterprise and field managers and the financial officer.

The enterprise manager has spent additional hours developing the action plan.

What steps has your company implemented since the start of the project?

Since the start of the project we have:

  • completed a High Level Sustainability Assessment, which provided a basis for identifying key sustainability issues and opportunities for our business
  • communicated the key objectives and outcomes of the project to staff on an ongoing basis, through a variety of forums
  • conducted a team review of the detailed Sustainability Assessment prepared for us, and developed an Action Plan, which reflects our immediate, medium and longer term commitments to further enhance our sustainability performance.

How do you see your company maintaining its commitment to the process started by this project?

Waitangi Treaty Grounds feels it is in a good position to continue with our sustainability journey. Ongoing commitment will depend on the resource and financial realities. Each action point will be taken on one at a time, as resources and time permit.

3. Commitments to sustainability

The Action Plan included a Statement of Intent, which set out the steps we have committed to take in support of the Northland Tourism Charter over the immediate, medium and long term. In summary, these are:

Commitments to the environment

  • Implement waste minimisation, re-use and recycling initiatives
  • Enhance awareness of energy consumption and implement identified measures to further improve efficiency
  • Build on existing framework for the management of health and safety, to include environmental performance
  • Put in place ongoing monitoring and measurement programmes for solid waste and energy consumption
  • Integrate green building principles into any future development of buildings and facilities, where practicable
  • Review and update Management Plan for the Waitangi National Trust estate, based on the findings of the Sustainability Assessment and finalised Northland Sustainable Tourism Charter

Commitments to our community

  • Keep the community informed of our sustainability objectives through communication and active involvement in appropriate initiatives
  • Source locally produced goods and services, where practicable

Commitments to the company

  • Work with staff to ensure buy-in and involvement with sustainability initiatives
  • Build on criteria for existing leadership innovation awards programme to incorporate environmental sustainability performance
  • Communicate sustainability objectives and action plan to both internal and external stakeholders

4. Advice to others

  • Ensure you have the right resource to undertake and manage the project
  • Don’t underestimate the time it will take to do it properly
  • It is an on-going process so it needs to be able to be resourced into the future

5. Benefits of being in the project

Waitangi Treaty Grounds found the benefits to being involved in this sustainability project included:

  • identifying environmental areas it can improve on
  • having a resource to refer to for the future
  • networking with the other businesses
  • marketing leverage from being part of the pilot programme.

6. Roadblocks to sustainability

What roadblocks did you have to overcome in this project?

A number of issues needed to be negotiated in the course of this project including:

  • getting all the right and timely information to make an informed decision about the appropriateness of the project for Waitangi Treaty Grounds
  • it took time for the key project personnel to meet with the appropriate people within the Waitangi National Trust
  • the timeframes involved — due to both coming in late and to other organisational commitments during the project period, the timing of meetings and being able to focus enough time was a constant challenge.

Contact details

Organisation: Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Contact person: Mary Dickson-Hunt (Enterprise Manager)

Address: PO Box 48, Paihia, Bay of Islands

Phone: (09) 402 7437

Email: entmanager@waitangi.net.nz

Web: www.waitangi.net.nz

 

Other case studies:
Dive! Tutukaka | Fullers Bay of Islands | Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park | Wairere Boulders Nature Park

Last updated: 21 September 2005