Overseas Travel by the Mayor
Response
Sent: Tuesday, 28 April 2026 08:37 am
Subject: Official Information Request - Overseas Travel by the Mayor
I refer to your Official Information request of 14 April 2026 for information regarding the enforcement of Overseas Travel by the Mayor
Question:
Over the past two calendar years, broken down by each trip:
- The total cost (GST Inclusive)
- Who attended
- The justification
- Any outcomes reached
Answer:
Rotorua Lakes Council’s International Relations Policy requires all international travel to be approved by Council and reported back to Council with outcomes. These reports are publicly available within Council Agendas after the travel has occurred, which can be found on Council’s website www.Council/Meetings/Agendas,Minutes and Presentations
Council appreciates this may take some time to collate, so have summarised the details of the trips taken by the Maor for the period 2024-2026 and as noted above, outcomes can be found in Council meeting Agendas once travel has occurred.
Date | Trip | Reason | Cost ** |
11-18 Feb 2024 | Brisbane, Indigenous NRL game and meetings (Mayor Tapsell) | Invitation to attend NRL extended to Mayor, following successful NRL event in Rotorua. Meetings with executives to look at options for another game in Rotorua in the future. | $3,899.00 |
15 to 25 March 2024 | Smart City Expo, Taiwan (Mayor Tapsell & Cr Wang) | Visit to Taiwan in response to invitation by conference organisers to be a guest speaker. | $ 762.03 |
2-22 April 2024 | Beppu, Japan & Wuzhong, China (Mayor Tapsell) | Invitation to attend Beppu 100th anniversary ceremony. Also met with Mayor of Wuzhong while in Asia, as our other sister-city. | $5,171.23 |
11-16 Feb 2025 | Sydney, Australia (Mayor Tapsell) | Invitation to speak at City Nation Space conference. | $1,655.87 |
19 Feb to 2 March 2025 | Rotorua NZ China Roadshow (Mayor Tapsell) | Visit to China with RotoruaNZ and local tourism operators. Trainings and meetings with top trade agents and airlines to promote Rotorua as a destination. | $3,376.02 |
15 to 22 March 2025 | Smart City Expo, Taiwan (Mayor Tapsell & Cr Wang) | Visit to Taiwan in response to invitation by conference organisers. Mayor & Cr Wang also visited Pingtung, Taiwan where a friendly city relationship with Rotorua was recently established. | $ 878.35 |
18 to 25 May 2025 | NZ-China Mayoral Forum (Mayor Tapsell & RotoruaNZ representative) | Invitation to attend International Mayoral Forum with other NZ Mayors in attendance. Accommodation and transport costs in China paid by the conference organisers. | $1,721.63 |
21 March to 2 April 2026 | KiwiNorth China Roadshow (Mayor Tapsell) | Visit to China with RotoruaNZ and tourism operators from Rotorua, Auckland, Wellington to boost visitor economy in Rotorua and the North Island. Trainings and meetings with top trade agents, top platform Trip.com and airlines. | $4,550.00 |
** Please note that in order to offset travel costs, Council collects revenue by charging a fee when international delegations are hosted by elected members of Rotorua Lakes Council. Accordingly, all international travel undertaken bears no cost to ratepayers.
Further Questions received 28.04.2026 after sending above response. Response sent Tuesday, 28 April 2026 1:36pm
Question:
Just to confirm that the international delegations fee is paid when all delegations visit elected members in Rotorua.
Answer:
Yes. However, Council does not charge a fee to any international delegations that Council has a sister-city or friendly-city relationship with, or to international visitors who come to us via a Parliamentary or DIA request.
Question:
Has this fee made enough income that all council international travel is fully subsidised by this fee or just Mayoral travel?
Answer:
The income derived from internal delegation visits is used for all Elected Members travel only (the Mayor and Councillors).
Question:
Is this fee making more than the cost of international travel taken?
Answer:
Yes, this income received is more than the cost of any international travel undertaken.
