It is a significant coordinator of Napier’s cruise ship passengers’ onshore activities. Cruises bring in an estimated $30 million to Hawke’s Bay’s economy every year. Napier isite staff serve as the city’s ambassadors for these international visitors. The isite has a Council funding policy of 25-35% rates support to fund its operating budget, with the remaining 65-75% to be funded by fees and charges. It is not achieving this and is currently needing over 70% rates support, while recovering under 30% of its operating costs through fees and charges.
Residents have asked us to find savings with our services and activities. Due to its current lack of financial sustainability, we’ve been considering whether to stop funding the isite and transfer its operations to a third party, with its location somewhere else. If it is relocated, the Marine Parade building would be repurposed. The building had remedial works and refurbishments carried out in 2022, partly funded by isite New Zealand through Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment funding. This extended the building’s life expectancy for around 15 more years.
Under this option, the isite business would be managed by a third party without Napier City Council funding. The isite’s future location, size and offerings would be decided by the third party. Council would then lease the Marine Parade building to an external commercial operator. A business case would first be undertaken to help Council decide whether leasing the building is a good option financially. If it is, the lease would provide a new source of income for ratepayers. It would be up to the commercial operator to decide what kind of activity may be in the building, but it must align with Council’s strategic priorities of Napier being a great visitor destination and offering spaces and places for all. These expectations would be communicated in detail and agreed on before any leasing agreement is finalised. Par2 MiniGolf would stay next to the building and could be leased and operated by the same commercial operator that leases the building. Read details on our proposals for Par2 MiniGolf here.
Under this option, Council would have a one-off capital cost of $1 million for it to set up the new isite operation elsewhere in the city. Any new location hasn’t been decided on and would be subject to a business case and further decision making by Council. It would have an annual operational grant of around $500,000. The new, smaller isite could be supported by two technology-based information kiosks in different visitor locations to provide extra ways to reach customers.
An information app could also be developed for mobile devices to complement the physical isite and information kiosks. The reconfigured isite must meet Council’s agreed guidelines of prioritising Napier and regional tourist offerings over national ones and being future-proof and flexible.
Council would then lease the Marine Parade building to an external commercial operator. A business case would first be developed to help Council decide whether leasing the building is a good option financially. If it is, the lease would provide a new source of income for ratepayers. It would be up to the commercial operator to decide what kind of activity would be in the building, but it would need to line up with Council’s strategic priorities of Napier being a great visitor destination and having spaces and places for everyone. These expectations would be communicated in detail and agreed on before any leasing agreement is finalised.
Par2 MiniGolf would stay next to the building and could be leased and operated by the same commercial operator that leases the building. Read about details on our proposals for Par2 MiniGolf here.
Under this option, Napier isite would remain in its building on Marine Parade and would continue to offer its current services and activities.
The isite is not meeting its funding targets. This is not a financially sustainable situation and it’s therefore not Council’s preferred option.
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OPTION 1: A third-party provider manages the isite functions and services in an alternative location with no funding from Council, removing it from its building. The building is leased to a commercial entity for an alternative purpose.
