We both donned a new shirt, tie and apron for the occasion!

 It was great fun getting amongst the crowd pouring wine and passing round pre-dinner nibbles. We then meet the challenge of dishing out the main meals head on. ‘We served the people’.

 The comments were classic!

Thanks to Dish for the ‘Work Experience.’

I had the privilege to attend this event where wine and dinner was the main focus closely followed by good company and great service.

 The Dinner attracted everyone involved in the wine industry including wine lovers, wineries, winemakers, wholesalers and retailers as well as the supporting manufacturing, bottling, transport and technical providers.

 Over 400 people enjoyed the fantastic food and Bay’s finest wines.

 This unique regional award is the largest regional wine competition in New Zealand. Entries are only accepted from wineries with wine made from 85% Hawke’s Bay Grapes.

 Congratulations to all involved in such a fantastic night.

 Good for you Rodger and Rosie! All that hard work has paid off.

These awards have been going for 15 years bring joy to all us pie lovers.  Every pie-lover in Hawke’s Bay knows that a Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Award winning pie is simply the best pie you can buy especially right here in the Bay.

I popped in today to one of the gold medal award winning bakeries and brought a delicious pie each for all my staff. he comments from them sealed the deal. A gold it is!

 Come on the Bay!

http://www.nzbakels.co.nz/pie_awards.cfm

The trophy is currently touring New Zealand and will be here in Napier on Tuesday morning the 19th of July 6.30am to 9.30am at the Aquarium car park on Marine Parade. Around the country the road-show has been building momentum and excitement as we get closer to our largest sporting event ever. The visit to Napier is in the middle of the school holidays so it’s a great opportunity to bring your kids down and to get them excited about the tournament.

Around 85,000 international visitors and 2000 media are expected in New Zealand for the Cup. We’ll have French, Canadian and Japanese supporters through the Bay which will be fantastic. Beyond the fun factor of playing host, this will boost our local tourism, businesses, and industry.  It’s a great chance to show off the best of our local culture and way of life. To this end the REAL New Zealand Festival and REAL Showcase will play a huge role in entertaining and educating our guests.  The nationwide festival will feature our local talent, hospitality, and produce, and the sector showcase will highlight the best of our industries. Here in the Bay we have a diverse range of events from the likes of “Running with the Lambs” in CHB to the “Deco Party at the Soundshell”.

Check all the events out on www.realnzfestival.com

The final phase of ticket sales has now started, and more than a million tickets have already been sold.  The French vs Canada game in Napier is already sold out but there are still tickets for the Canada vs Japan game.

It would be great to have two complete sell-outs here in the Bay, so don’t miss out. This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Chris Tremain

On May 13th I helped Mayfair School with their fortnightly lunch BBQ fundraising treat.

The perfect manners of the students combined with the great weather and of course the “culinary skills of the chefs” made for an excellent school visit.

The new brand moves us from the old ‘Wine Country” logo while maintaining a similar stylised yellow and orange sunrise/sunset but with the more generic brand of “Hawkes Bay”. I think this is a brand which will be a much better fit for Wairoa.

The “Wine Country” brand did straight jacket us into one silo of tourism offering, that being food and wine. The fact is that Hawkes Bay has a diverse range of tourism products and these all need the opportunity to independently promote them-selves, but always, in my opinion, within the context of the wider “Hawkes Bay” brand.

The bi-line “Get me to Hawkes Bay” allows the use of the “Hawkes Bay” brand across a range of different media and products. So whether it’s Art Deco Napier, Gannet Safaris, or the Lake to Lighthouse, we’re promoting the individual product but under the wider brand “Hawkes Bay”.
We need to keep reminding ourselves that while we are the 5th largest population grouping in the country with 200,000 plus people in our province, we are just a dinghy on the ocean when it comes to marketing ourselves on an international basis. In a world proliferated by marketing brands people have a limited ability to absorb new information. As a result we need one brand under which we market with a range of tourism product offerings sitting under that brand. The fact is that even with modern viral internet marketing, if we are to build any grunt into a good campaign that drives tourists to our awesome province, it really does require us all working together and not in our own silos.

Wairoa has a great opportunity to pool its tourism offerings under the wider Hawkes Bay brand. And it needs to develop its own sub-brand, something like “Wild Wairoa”. A combination of farm stays, Marae Experiences, Pig Hunting for “Jaffas”, Lake Trekking, and special events. Remember that back in the 30’s the Morere Hot Springs was one of the largest tourist attractions in the North Island. We have a long way to get the Springs back up to that level of attraction, but increasingly tourists are looking for a unique slice of New Zealand, and “Wild Wairoa” has that in bundles. We just need to pull the ideas together and package it. Tourism HB can help big time here.

Chris Tremain

The “Wine Country” brand did straight jacket us into one silo of tourism offering, that being food and wine. The fact is that Hawkes Bay has a diverse range of tourism products and these all need the opportunity to independently promote themselves, but always, in my opinion, within the context of the wider “Hawkes Bay” brand.

The bi-line “Get me to Hawkes Bay” allows the use of the “Hawkes Bay” brand across a range of different media and products. So whether it’s Art Deco Napier, Gannet Safaris, Wine Country or Farmers Markets, we’re promoting the individual product but under the wider brand “Hawkes Bay”.
We need to keep reminding ourselves that while we are the 5th largest population grouping in the country with 200,000 plus people in our province, we are just a dinghy on the ocean when it comes to marketing ourselves on an international basis. In a world proliferated by marketing brands people have a limited ability to absorb new information. As a result we need one brand under which we market with a range of tourism product offerings sitting under that brand. The fact is that even with modern viral internet marketing, if we are to build any grunt into a good campaign that drives tourists to our awesome province, it really does require us all working together and not in our own silos.

One of the more innovative recent campaigns was the use of the Prime Minister in a “You Tube” clip where he was interviewed by Shaun Wayne (aka Shane Warne) during the latest Art Deco Festival. It was a great idea. All I ask is that these campaigns are done within the umbrella of brand Hawkes Bay. That will maximise our collective success.

And while I was sitting in Parliament this week watching the rain fall outside my window all I could think of was “Get me to Hawkes Bay”.

Chris Tremain

Advice came from all quarters of the tent ensuring Foss was crowned the 2010
man of the kitchen.

Tremain has already issued the 2011 challenge.