Sport & Recreation Services
At Visitor Solutions we’re as passionate about sport and recreation as you are, and we pride ourselves on keeping your project moving. We harness this passion and bring inspiration and fresh thinking right from the start.
A significant proportion of our work now draws on our specialist sector experience and knowledge to help sporting organisations improve their capacity, capability and facilities.
We use the core skills below in an approach that is holistic and tailor-made to meet each client’s needs:
STRATEGIC PLANNING
We work with clients to develop visionary, yet achievable, strategies. Your objectives might lie in economic growth, sustainability, securing niche markets or improving the quality of the visitor experience. Our knowledge and experience will help you set and achieve the right targets.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
We undertake a robust needs analysis process which can include community consultation, geographic and demographic analysis, establishing sport and recreation trends and strategic alignment.
RESEARCH
We can undertake all your required sport and recreation research from large holistic studies, to a focus on a core area or topic.
FACILITY NETWORK PLANNING
Taking a facility network approach towards future planning and investment is critical. We can assist you with full network plans or specific tasks, such as current state analysis, gap analysis, prioritisation and recommendations for future provision.
BUSINESS PLANNING
We can help determine the financial viability and sustainability of a proposed initiative. Including cash flow analysis, whole-of-life cost analysis and the identification of new opportunities.
FEASIBILITY STUDIES & BUSINESS CASES
Our objective, holistic advice helps to optimise and underpin investment decisions, greater financial scrutiny, facility development and better operational performance.
CONCEPT AND MASTER PLANNING
We provide objective, expert advice on optimising open space, site and facility design. Resulting in improved functionality, reduced operational costs and increased revenue.
PARTNERSHIP ASSISTANCE
Developing facility or programme partnerships can be very beneficial to sporting organisations. We can help your arrangements with other community organisations, clubs, central and local government and charitable funding trusts.
ASSET MANAGEMENT PLANNING
We enable sports sector organisations secure their long-term future through planning for maintenance, refurbishment and replacement of capital assets.
STAFFING
We can advise on staffing structures, roles and responsibilities. We help develop job descriptions, and professional development and staff policies.
Case Studies
Western Springs College Indoor Courts Feasibility and Business Case
Western Springs College, known to those who teach and learn there as ‘Springs’, occupies a special place in New Zealand’s educational landscape.
It is the only co-educational, non-uniform, wharekura-equipped secondary school in the country. The first stage of the major rebuild of the school has been completed and stage two is in planning. As part of the planning, Visitor Solutions were engaged to undertake a feasibility study on developing additional indoor courts to meet school and community needs. There was found to be a lack of indoor courts available across Auckland as a whole. The feasibility study showed there was a good partnership opportunity with Auckland Council and provided sufficient evidence for the Council to commit further funding to a detailed investigation on the need for additional indoor courts at the college. Visitor Solutions are currently developing a business case for the additional courts.
Bay of Plenty Spaces and Places Strategy
The Bay of Plenty Spaces and Places Strategy provides a high-level strategic framework for regional sport and recreation spaces and facility planning in the region.
Visitor Solutions was invited to work in collaboration with Sport Bay of Plenty, Sport New Zealand and the Bay of Plenty’s six local authorities to develop this strategy. The strategy identified priority projects for the next ten years along with actions to support implementation. A key component of the strategy was the agreement of rules and guidelines for the provision of spaces and places and the introduction of a clear decision-making process. The process was seen as vital to delivering robust planning and assessment of facility projects in the future and ensuring funding is applied to the most important priorities.
Visitor Solutions has now been commissioned to review and update the strategy.
Great Walk Evaluation and Assessment, Department of Conservation
New Zealand’s Great walks are premier tracks that pass through diverse and spectacular scenery, from rivers and lakes to mountains and deep gorges.
During 2017 and 2018, the Department of Conservation (DOC) invited communities, iwi and members of the public to put forward existing walks which could be enhanced to become part of the Great Walks network. Visitor Solutions, in partnership with Market Economics, were commissioned to undertake economic research on three of the proposed Great Walks. In compiling this research, Visitor Solutions provided expertise on the walking tracks, a market assessment of who would be using the tracks and investigated practical operational aspects of the walks for DOC. The report provided a high-level assessment of the social, economic and financial impacts of each option. The report enabled DOC to make informed decisions on the next steps.
Christchurch School of Gymnastics, Business Case and Needs Analysis
Christchurch School of Gymnastics (CSG) runs gymnastics-based programmes for up to 1,500 members a week at their new purpose-built venue in Christchurch.
Visitor Solutions was commissioned by the Board to conduct a business case and needs analysis for the Club’s new facility on a range of site options, in order to replace the old facility which sustained damage during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
This work was critical to enable the Club’s Board to formalise a plan for rebuilding whilst making informed decisions about the reinstatement of the facility and the site where this would occur. The development was identified as a priority project in the Gymsports National Facility Strategy, also undertaken by Visitor Solutions, as it played a pivotal role in the wider network of gymnastics facilities both regionally and nationally. The new build is now flourishing on the QEII site in Christchurch.
National Facilities Strategy, New Zealand Football
New Zealand Football is the governing body for one of New Zealand’s most loved and participated sports. Visitor Solutions was commissioned to create a strategy to look at their facilities across New Zealand and how they were meeting demand at a local, regional and national level. The project involved a comprehensive assessment of needs, deciding how best to engage with stakeholders and an implementation of significant improvements in the facilities provided. A subsequent review of the strategy and associated outcomes has since been carried out to monitor progress and identify future issues and opportunities facing both New Zealand Football and the seven football federations. This has resulted in one of the key outcomes of establishing a ‘Home of Football’ located at QBE Stadium, Albany, Auckland.
Kolmar Multi-Sport and Community Facility Project Development
Kolmar is New Zealand’s largest, award-winning multi-sport facility.
Based in Papatoetoe in Auckland, the facility includes an indoor sports arena, gymnasium, multi-sport building, hockey turf, tennis courts, and rugby fields. Visitor Solutions have been involved with the centre from its early inception, through consultation, partnership facilitation, master planning, and facility procurement. Our continued involvement is through the Trust’s strategic planning and governance and its delivery of sports and community outcomes. We were also engaged to develop a Strategic Plan and detailed annual business plan for the original Papatoetoe Recreation Centre, prior to the upgrade. The facility now plays home to 3,000-3,500 members annually.
Auckland Regional Indoor Court Facility Plan
Research had shown that there was a significant shortage of indoor courts across the Auckland region.
Visitor Solutions, in partnership with Market Economics, was commissioned by Auckland Council to produce an evidence-based model of where additional indoor courts were needed. The project involved producing broader and more detailed analysis of the regional distribution and demand for indoor courts, whilst also considering appropriate models of provision and identifying the priorities to respond to regional demand. The plan has been signed-off by the regions sporting organisation and is in operation.