Following the adoption of a new Tourism Strategy for Central Otago, Council has endorsed changes to the governance model for Tourism Central Otago (TCO). TCO will remain as a business unit of Council with the establishment of an external advisory board.
  
Council also agreed that a new membership model should be established with implementation to be programmed for the 2019-20 financial year.

The process to recruit the new board will begin soon. Terms of reference will be developed followed by a full recruitment process for applications and appointments.

The advisory board will include:
· Up to six members with relevant tourism credentials and/or other commercial skills
· An independent Chair
· One elected member of Council appointed to the Board (Mayor or designate)
· All appointments approved by Council during the establishment phase

Introducing a membership structure for TCO is designed to build stronger industry engagement and a more inclusive operating model. TCO will now develop the membership benefit packages and prices before presenting the final proposal to the industry. It is intended that the membership model will be introduced for the 2019-20 financial year.

The overarching driver of the new TCO strategy is a focus on doubling the value of tourism to the Central Otago economy ahead of doubling the volume of visitor numbers – a ‘value over volume’ approach.  

Council believes the new structure is the best option for TCO to deliver on the new strategy with an emphasis on:
· Supporting a stronger working relationship with tourism operators
· Increasing the commercial value of operator partnerships
· Reducing TCO’s reliance on Council funding
· Better leveraging Council’s current investment in tourism 

View the full documents below:

Central Otago Tourism Strategy - June 2018

Central Otago Tourism Stocktake

Visitor Segmentation Research