A billion dollar Auckland iwi is sharing part of its history in a new tourism venture.
Ngati Whatua Orakei has launched an app to showcase Bastion Point, the ancestral land it occupied forty years ago and saved from a real estate development.
Jamie Cook is the business development manager for Ngati Whatua Orakei and says it's important to reach out to visitors hoping to learn more about the area.
"Let's embrace the manuhiri, lets offer that cloak of manaakitanga, and lets educate these visitors to our shores about who we are," Mr Cook says.
Once virtually landless, the treaty settlement process has transformed the tribe into a billion dollar iwi, but most of its assets are held in real estate.
While the app is expected to see a growth in employment opportunities in the tourism sector, the move also hopes to encourage tourism sustainability with little impact on the land.
Samantha Ramlu is the developer behind the latest tourism venture who says the app lets you see and hear stories which you can't find in books.
"The idea is you've already got the phone in your pocket – you're using something you've already got.
"You're not adding to the space, you're walking around, using it and getting that experience. It's really adding to that tourism experience," Ms Ramlu says.
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