A tour operator says there is "nothing to do" in Tauranga and the city is missing out on valuable tourism dollars.
"There is nowhere to stay and nothing to do," AAT Kings New Zealand operations manager Greg Marett told the city council this week.
The business brought 20,000 people a year to New Zealand on guided holidays lasting up to three weeks, but none came to Tauranga.
"I am a bit embarrassed about that".
He said afterwards that he did not mean there was nothing to do whatsoever, but there were not enough activities to suit group travel. Smaller intimate offerings were important but there needed to be a critical mass of people of people coming through to sustain a big new attraction.
''Tauranga is missing out. Don't concentrate on one sector of the market, concentrate on the whole market. It is about taking it up a notch.''
His presentation coincided with the Bay of Plenty Times learning that a potential major tourism drawcard, a 3D marine film cinema and aquarium, had lapsed.
It was mooted for Sulphur Point's Marine Park and was one of the main projects behind Priority One's strategy to champion a stronger tertiary education and research presence in the Bay. Tourism Bay of Plenty had also "coached" the aquarium project to the feasibility stage.
However, since the plan hit the headlines 16 months ago, the instigator and driving force behind the project had died. Mike Firth, an Academy Award-nominated film director, passed away on October 9 last year.
Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne said since Mr Firth's death she had not heard any more about it.
"Sadly it did not get enough traction before he died."
Another potential attraction, a $3 million wakeboard park in which overhead cables replaced speed boats to haul wakeboard riders around a shallow man-made lake, has failed to get off the ground.
Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless asked Mr Marett what was the single thing the council could do to get more people to come to Tauranga.
Mr Marett, who is based in Tauranga, said the city needed to find something that was unique, doable in all weathers and all year round - something that would get people to stay here and spend money.
He said it needed to draw a whole lot of people from different backgrounds.
"If I could think of it, I would be doing it."
Mr Marett said the planned visitor information centre at Mount Maunganui was a critical part of giving the industry confidence but the city also needed an international branded hotel.
''Build it and they will come.''
Ms Dunne said Tauranga had plenty of natural attractions but not a single big attraction funded by private investment.
She said Tauranga firstly needed the right environment to attract an investor with the money to create a point of difference, like Queenstown's Shotover Jets.
An international branded hotel was vital to achieving this environment, with Tauranga turning away business all the time because it did not have such a hotel, she said.
Ms Dunne said Trinity Wharf and Hotel on Devonport were beautiful but very full.
People who booked tours wanted the reliability that went with a branded hotel, and tour operators needed a hotel big enough to take everyone so they did not have to split clients across different places.
Uzabus Tauranga branch manager Bruce Heberley said although Tauranga did not have a high-profile attraction, local kiwifruit orchard and Maori cultural tours were still popular options for passengers off cruise ships. Most still chose Rotorua, Hobbiton and Waitomo.
He said his in-laws were staying from Ireland and they could not believe how good Tauranga was.
''But have we got something like a museum, no we don't . . . our biggest asset is that big cone at the entrance to the harbour.''
Tauranga needed a point of difference, Mr Heberley said.
Tauranga accountant Michelle Malcolm of Wakeboard New Zealand said they were unable to get the wakeboard park off the ground.
There were issues around finding the land and funding, and the business case became a bit tricky when it was announced that a park was going into Hamilton, she said.