‘Find Your Wild’ on Wellington’s Regional Trails Network

A new Wellington regional project – Find your Wild - will lift the veil to make Wellington’s regional trails network more discoverable and accessible for those wanting to experience them on foot, bicycle, horseback, and e-bike.

Release time : 2018-11-30 14:32:25

source : Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency

A new Wellington regional project - Find your Wild - will lift the veil to make Wellington’s regional trails network more discoverable and accessible for those wanting to experience them on foot, bicycle, horseback, and e-bike.

The project - a collaboration between all nine councils in the region as well as DOC and WREDA - will see trails in the Wellington region developed and marketed as a world class experience.

It will enable more locals to get active on the trails as well as attracting more visitors to the Wellington region which already plays host to around five million domestic travellers and about 715,000 international visitors each year.

WREDA Chief Executive Lance Walker says while many visitors to Wellington come because of its reputation as the capital of urban cool, the easy access to outstanding natural forested parks, rugged coastlines and the town belt is unrivalled by any other region in New Zealand.

“With more than 25 per cent of visitors to New Zealand actively seeking walking opportunities and four per cent wanting to mountain bike, it places the Wellington region in a great place to grow these markets. This is at the heart of the Find your Wild project.

“Find your Wild will unlock economic benefits and the potential in the Wellington region is easy to see. For example, the Remutaka Cycle Trail had an estimated 89,659 domestic and international users in 2015 who generated revenue of around $3.3 million*.

“This project puts the region on the map as unmissable stop for trails experiences,” Mr Walker says.

Wellington’s regional trail network is based on top must-do trails experiences, other great trails in the region and, of course, trails that locals love to use.

Regional Trails Community and Industry Engagement Forum Chairman Russell Spratt says the trails project is a truly regional initiative which provides a great model for future regional collaboration.

“It is exciting to be