Marlborough District Council has confirmed Destination Marlborough (DM) will become a permanent part of Council by 1 July 2025.

At last Thursday’s final Council meeting for 2024, Mayor Nadine Taylor and councillors agreed that the one-off costs of the transition would be funded by Council from budget reallocations with DM’s future functions and operating budgets developed and considered as part of the 2025-2026 Annual Plan process.

The Destination Marlborough Future Path Project was initiated by Council in 2024 with the support of commissioners appointed after the collective resignation of the chairperson and board. Portfolio Holder, Deputy Mayor David Croad said the commissioners were tasked with taking a closer look at the organisation including considering its immediate future.

“It became clear during this process that change was needed to ensure Marlborough’s promotion and visitor management efforts could continue for now but also, importantly, well into the future,” Councillor Croad said.

In June 2024, the Destination Marlborough Trust was disestablished and its functions brought under the management of Council for the short term, while longer term options were considered.

The Future Path Project has been carried out in two phases - the first in July and August this year featuring an extensive investment logic mapping (ILM) process which helped Council understand the problems faced by the organisation, its impacts and the desired benefits.

The second phase involved public engagement via a survey, public meetings and direct engagement with iwi and local tourism leaders. Fifty-nine responses were received to the survey and 75 per cent of respondents indicated they were tourism businesses.

Councillor Croad said the outcome of the survey in terms of the structure and desired function of Destination Marlborough aligned very well with the preferred options which emerged during the ILM process - that of Destination Marlborough becoming more of a ‘one stop destination steward’ and moving ‘closer to Council’ as either a council-controlled organisation or council business unit.

“The survey also showed significant levels of support for the current services that Destination Marlborough provides,” Councillor Croad said.

Forty-one per cent of survey respondents supported Destination Marlborough becoming a council business unit and thirty-one per cent preferred a council-controlled organisation (CCO).

“To ensure longevity and to strengthen and shore up management and governance, Council’s preference is that Destination Marlborough becomes a department within Council rather than a CCO. The latter is administratively complex with a number of hidden costs,” Councillor Croad said.

The ILM process also identified the importance of establishing an expert advisory board to assist with decision making and to ensure the voice of industry is heard and their input captured, Councillor Croad said.

“We will now enter phase three of the Future Path Project which will involve taking a closer look at Destination Marlborough’s current and future services with recommendations due back to Council by June 2025,” he said.

“Until then it’s business as usual for Destination Marlborough who will continue the important work to ensure Marlborough’s star continues to shine on the national and international visitation stages.”

“I’d like to thank the DM team for their hard work and continued commitment and everyone who contributed to the Future Path Project. It has been a very positive experience. The industry and wider community have been constructive and helpful in reaching this decision – it’s an excellent outcome for Marlborough,” Councillor Croad said.

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