Tourism future is in the stars

Sunday, 08 July 2007

WHAKATANE could stand to reap huge economic rewards from a hitherto unexplored frontier of tourism – the night sky.
That’s the conclusion of visiting American astronomer Thomas Callahan, who reckons the clear skies over the Eastern Bay are a huge untapped resource that would be a massive magnet for thousands of astronomers from all over the world, if they were advertised or promoted in any way.
Mr Callahan has spent much of the past month in both Blenheim and Whakatane – the two parts of the country with the highest sunshine hours and, therefore, the clearest nights.
He found out about the “undiscovered goldmine” above the Bay almost by accident, he said. There was little in international astronomy magazines to promote the region and he only hard about Whakatane through an extensive internet search, as well as talking to Alan Gilmore, a senior astronomer at the Mt John Observatory at Lake Tekapo in the South Island.
“He outlined that there were two towns with the best possible skies in New Zealand … I had been searching for a place to go to see the stars from the Southern Hemisphere and I was looking at either Chile or Australia and New Zealand.”
Language barriers in Chile and the remoteness of Alice Springs – the best location in Australia for astronomy – prompted him to refine his search to New Zealand, but it was only when Mr Callahan arrived in Whakatane that he hit the proverbial jackpot, he said.
“I had no appreciation of what facilities you have here and what you have, at the Whakatane Observatory, is very, very good … it’s truly remarkable.
“I would go so far as to say God’s gift to New Zealand is the night time skies over Whakatane and Blenheim.”
Mr Callahan said he saw sights he had yearned to see for many years, including a beautiful red star called X Crux, located in an area known as the “Jewel Box”, a group of multicoloured stars near the Southern Cross.
“Their beauty is just immense. This has been a very productive trip for me. I got a 50 per cent yield in terms of the weather co-operating with my plans and I was prepared for much less.”
He had contacted staff at the Whakatane District Council in a bid to impress on people what a boon they had above their heads.
“I was surprised by the lack of appreciation in the town of this potential economic resource in the Milky Way.”
There were about one million amateur astronomers in European and English-speaking countries alone and he estimated up to 1000 visitors could be attracted here over the winter months each year to see the skies.
“There are astronomers from all over the world that would give their eye teeth to come here, but are unaware of how to go about it.”
Whakatane residents should also be making much more use of the observatory, he said.
“If you get a child interested in astronomy you will have changed their life for the better and opened up whole new possibilities and opportunities for them … who knows where the next Isaac Newton will come from? It may be Whakatane.”
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Tim Burgess said he believed Mr Callahan’s claims had a lot of credence and astronomy could, potentially, be a big money-spinner for the region.
“There is a lot of potential there to develop it into a tourism product.”
A recently developed tourism initiative at the Mt St John Observatory and the success story a man who runs astronomy tours out of The Hermitage Hotel at Mt Cook proved astronomy could attract tourists, at least on a small scale.
“It is a bit like saying ‘This is a good place to go fishing, but you will have to bring your own rod and bait,” Mr Burgess said.
At present, the Whakatane Observatory on Hurinui Avenue is open on Tuesdays and Fridays throughout the year – weather permitting – at 7.30pm, or earlier by arrangement. Bookings are welcome for other nights from school classes and other groups of six or more.