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Immigration and Lifestyle Investment
Overview
 Rotorua has a unique lifestyle based around access to the outdoors, tourism infrastructure, unique natural environment, limited traffic issues, affordable housing and living and an easily accessible, central location.
As populations become more transient with shifting lifestyles, work styles and family structures, the value of this lifestyle needs to be highlighted and publicised to help to create a more skilled workforce and a higher income population base in Rotorua.
The district has to be marketed as a destination for living, studying, working, investing and doing business, by creating a well promoted, friendly and welcoming environment for immigrants and lifestyle investors alike.
Lifestyle investment is a growing worldwide trend as people start to invest more in their lifestyle rather than their material wealth. This will attract residents to Rotorua with high family incomes, high levels of education and an interest in living in a safe environment where town meets country. Many lifestyle investors will be in business, internationally linked, semi-retired, or working from home. This will create opportunities and challenges from which Rotorua can grow.
Workshop summary
The immigration and lifestyle investment workshop, facilitated by BrightEconomy Board members Lidi Schiefelbusch and Sandra Kai Fong, highlighted 2001 Census information showing more than 50% of Rotorua residents had lived elsewhere in New Zealand or overseas five years earlier. Of the 7005 immigrants from overseas, almost 3000 had come from the UK and Ireland.
Workshop participants were asked to suggest the best  marketing tools the BrightEconomy Board could encourage development of to sell a positive Rotorua message and help with staff recruitment and attracting investment.
The participants were also asked for their top three positive and negative perceptions of Rotorua as a place to live, work and learn, and as a place to invest and do business.
To download immigration and lifestyle investment workshop details, click below
Forum Immigration Presentation 
Forum Immigration and Lifestyle Investment notes
The way forward
In October 2006 the BrightEconomy Board commissioned APR consultants to conduct a perception survey of Rotorua as a place to live, work, learn, invest and do business. The Board are now in the process of developing a marketing strategy based on these findings to attract the immigrants it seeks.
A full copy of the Results of the Perception Survey can be downloaded here >>Full Perception Survey
To all who attended the Rotorua Promotion & Marketing Workshop held in the Council Building from 5:30pm Wednesday 7 March 2007
On behalf of the BrightEconomy Advisory Board we would like to thank you for participating in an interesting information and though sharing evening.
Sorry for those of you who registered but were unable to make it on the night. Here is a brief overview of the evening with the Workshop notes attached.
Our subject of Immigration and Lifestyle and the findings from the recently conducted survey formed the basis of our discussion on:
How to make sure we have a sound and workable Marketing Strategy to attract high income earning, well educated families to Rotorua. Those who want to live and work in a safe and sharing community, and at the same time make sure we have the full support and buy in from all Rotorua residents.
We showed you the perceptions from the survey and gave you the "real" facts as compared to some of these perceptions.
We have had great feedback and with assistance from APR and the BrightEconomy Board we will follow up with a proposed "Marketing Plan" by easter. From there a full Marketing Strategy will be put in place and funding will need to be arranged to implement the plan.
Please if you have any questions and/or thoughts following on from this do share them with us so we can incorporate them in our strategy.
Thanks again
Lidi Schiefelbusch, Sandra Kai Fong, Harvey James
BrightEconomy Advisory Board Members
Workshop Notes 07 March Workshop
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