Limited number of Dunedin Difference Passports left.

Due to the popularity of the Love the Dunedin Difference and Discover the Dunedin Difference passports there are now only limited number of both passports left. While stock remains these will be distributed on a first to request basis with no plans for further reprints of the current passport.

Click photo to enlarge Otago Settlers Museum director Linda Wigley with a George O’Brien water colour

OTAGO Settlers Museum director Linda Wigley firmly believes the museum’s strength lies in its focus on people.

‘‘We are very much a people’s museum,’’ Ms Wigley said.

‘‘We have a very strong social history collection, not just of items but the human stories behind them, and that people focus is very important — it’s what really enriches the collection.’’

Ms Wigley said the museum itself, as an institute dedicated to a city’s history and people, was not unique, but it did have one of New Zealand’s finest social history collections.

Click photo to enlarge Dunedin Public Art Gallery director Elizabeth Caldwell

THE Dunedin Public Art Gallery is a ‘‘very special’’ gallery, director Elizabeth Caldwell says.

Established in 1884, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery is the oldest gallery in New Zealand and will celebrate its 125th birthday later this year with a special collection hanging and a new gallery publication, Ms Caldwell said.

‘‘The Dunedin Public Art Gallery stands out in New Zealand.

‘‘I guess you can say we are the smallest big gallery among New Zealand’s main centres, but we enjoy an extraordinary history of patronage.’’

Click photo to enlarge

THE ongoing redevelopment of facilities, introduction of new exhibits and experiences, and a personal relationship with its visitors are just some of the factors which make the Otago Museum one of the best in the world, Otago Museum director Shimrath Paul says.

While most museums would be ‘‘very happy’’ attracting 20 per cent of their local population through their doors, the Otago Museum enjoyed a huge patronage from its local community, Mr Paul said.

Click photo to enlarge Dunedin City Council Botanic Garden team leader Alan Matchett and Chinese Garden visitor services officer Summer Zhang

DESPITE misconceptions, Dunedin’s Chinese Garden is a ‘‘uniquely sited’’ asset intended for the enjoyment of everyone, Dunedin City Council Botanic Garden team leader Alan Matchett says.

‘‘There is this misconception that the Chinese Garden was intended for overseas visitors, but that is not the case, the garden is for everyone,’’ Mr Matchett said.

‘‘The idea came about during the city’s 150th anniversary, in 1998, as a way to recognise the contribution of the Chinese who came to Otago, and Dunedin, during the 1860s looking for gold.’’

Click photo to enlarge Taieri Gorge Railway chief executive Murray Bond, with Taieri Gorge Railway marketing manager Barbara Reid

DUNEDIN’S participation in a domestic tourism marketing campaign is ‘‘long overdue’’, says Taieri Gorge Railway chief executive Murray Bond.

Mr Bond said Dunedin was losing tens of millions of dollars a year in tourism income because of a lack of domestic marketing.

‘‘It could be hundreds of millions — most New Zealanders have very little idea that there are so many quality tourist attractions here,’’ Mr Bond said.

Click photo to enlarge Larnach Castle director Norcombe Barker believes Dunedin has more to offer than many of New Zealand’s centres

FOR Larnach Castle director Norcombe Barker, increasing the number of castle visitors from Dunedin is an important step in maintaining a ‘‘worldclass’’ attraction.

Tourism Dunedin’s Passport to Love the Dunedin Difference campaign was an excellent way to encourage that, as well as further promote the castle’s own host-card loyalty scheme, he said.

‘‘We are very positive about the passport — something like 38 per cent of all visitors to Dunedin come to visit friends or family but most of them aren’t getting out to see the city’s attractions.

Click photo to enlarge Otago Motel Association president Neville Butcher would like to see Dunedin people utilising their passports to discover the Dunedin difference

THIRTY-SEVEN of the Otago Motel Association’s 43 members have signed up as partners with Tourism Dunedin’s Passport to Love the Dunedin Difference.

Otago Motel Association president Neville Butcher said although the association’s member accommodation providers would not normally host many people from Dunedin, ‘‘locals’’ were an important part of the city’s visitor industry.

Click photo to enlarge The Dunedin Difference Passport is a great way to encourage the people of Dunedin to visit the Fortune Theatre more often.

YOUR Passport to Love the Dunedin Difference is an excellent opportunity to open the Fortune Theatre’s doors even wider to the Dunedin community, theatre board chairman Robert Aitken says.

‘‘It’s a very cool idea. We want to be as open and accessible as possible to everyone — there is this misconception that the theatre is just for the privileged,’’ Mr Aitken said.

‘‘We are a community theatre at the end of the day, and not just for Dunedin but for all of Otago and Southland, and anything we can do to raise our own profile within the community is great.’’

Click photo to enlarge Royal Albatross Centre manager Sam Inder keeps an eye on a juvenile albatross from the centre's Richdale Observatory

ROYAL Albatross Centre manager Sam Inder hopes tourism Dunedin’s launch of the Your Passport to Love the Dunedin Difference project will encourage more Dunedin residents to discover their local treasures.

About 150,000 people a year visit the Otago Peninsula’s Taiaroa Head to experience the unique relationship between wildlife and warfare, which is the Royal Albatross Centre and historic Fort Taiaroa, but less than three per cent of them are actually from Dunedin.