MAUNGAWHAU: A Study of Visitor Use and Attitudes

Maungawhau (Mt Eden) is an Auckland landmark, a premier park and a prime example of Auckland’s volcanic, archaeological and cultural heritage. Despite the importance of Maungawhau to a number of different groups we still have little information on who visits, what they value about the mountain, and what their patterns of behaviour are. This report aims to strengthen our understanding of these issues. We present an overview of summit visitor demographics, reasons for visit, arrival methods, visitation patterns, likes/dislikes, and views on management of the mountain. We also map and describe visitor flows and behaviour in the summit/cone area. Finally we analyse local-resident use of the mountain and present a series of recommendations on how to reduce visitor related impacts on the mountain.

Heritage is the places, people and stories that give communities their unique identity. It is also what interests visitors. The Tourism Research and Community Empowerment (trace) HERITAGE project provides resources and planning tools to help communities identify their heritage resources, and plan how to preserve and share these. We aim to assist this sector in creating and managing profitable and sustainable products, and to develop cross-cultural and cross-national research that can benefit New Zealand and overseas communities.