Destination Cambridge CEO Miff Macdiarmid flanked by Dick Breukink, left, and new chairman Martin Buglass.
Destination Cambridge CEO Miff Macdiarmid flanked by Dick Breukink, left, and new chairman Martin Buglass.
Destination Cambridge’s new chair Martin Buglass is seeking a more collaborative approach to enticing visitors to stay longer in a town he describes as the jewel of Waipā.
He wants key entities to work more efficiently together – Destination Cambridge, Waipā District Council, the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, retailers and accommodation providers – to ensure visitors will linger.
“We need to bring our voices together. We all want the same outcome, but at times it feels like we are all in a waka paddling in different directions,” he said. “We’re effectively the Ponsonby of the Waikato, and while events and attractions capture visitors, we need to get better at knowing what will keep them here for longer.”
Martin took over as Destination Cambridge chair in late August, bringing to the table 25 years’ international experience in sales and marketing. He and his wife started an accommodation business when they arrived here from the UK, and Martin joined Destination Cambridge in 2014.
“I knew I wanted to give more back,” he said. “More recently, I’ve wanted to be more involved in the decision-making … that led to my putting my hand up to become chair.”
Early in his two-year term, Martin held strategy meetings with the board and other players and walked the streets meeting people face-to-face. At 51, he is not one to be easily discouraged. He has a neuromuscular genetic disorder that affects his speech, balance and co-ordination, but he knows exactly what steps he wants to take.
“Initial meetings with both the Cambridge Chamber and Town Hall Trust have been very encouraging,” he said recently.
He is also keen to lessen confusion over the roles of Destination Cambridge and the Cambridge i-Site.
“Destination Cambridge has a contract with council to operate i-Site for them, and also to manage the hireage of the town hall … there is some confusion out there.”
Late August also saw Dick Breukink return to the Destination Cambridge board. Harking from the Netherlands, Dick came to New Zealand 15 years ago, bringing decades of global experience in hospitality and quickly making a name for himself as general manager of Novotel and Ibis Tainui Hamilton.
He is also an advisory member for the Podium Lodge and a business mentor, roles that evolved since he made the decision to retire in November 2019, ostensibly to ‘give something back’.
“I then started a small company to do coaching and mentoring in the hospitality industry. Little did I know that in December 2019, Covid would hit us and effectively ruin hospo for some time,” he said.
Dick was a member of the Destination Cambridge Board before, but after about eight months left to join the Cambridge Town Hall Trust where he hoped to be more productive.
“I’m an operational guy who runs hotels. After some time away, then Destination Cambridge chair Philip Coles asked me if I wanted to come back. Tourism was returning and changing, and he wanted to more actively promote Cambridge.
“Things are opening up now and there are new opportunities for Cambridge. One of the things we must do is switch to the virtual world in which we now live … we have to make better use of ways to promote ourselves, including using more online platforms.”
