Te Anau's i-Site is set to move from its host of 30+ years, RealNZ (fomerly Real Journeys), to rival tourism operator Southern Discoveries on 1st May.

Te Anau's i-Site in RealNZ's (formally Real Journeys) lakefront building. Photo: Southland App

RealNZ announced its release of the Te Anau i-Site, following the pandemic, citing an intention to focus on its core business.

Established in 1990, i-Site New Zealand is a nationwide network of more than 50 official information centres tasked with giving unbiased information to visitors. They also work closely with the Department of Conservation's Visitor Centres.

The network is owned by Visitor Information Network (VIN), a subsidiary of Tourism New Zealand, and is supported in Southland by the regional development agency Great South.

Southern Discoveries General Manager Sales Ben Hulance said they had been working in the tourism industry for a long time and had run several information centres, including one in Te Anau.

He said one of the main drivers Southern Discoveries applied for the i-Site was to keep it in the community.

"I think it was just really important for us that the i-Site was kept within the community in Te Anau."

Hulance said the company's current booking centre on Lake Front Drive would have new signage by 1st May and also an interior update sometime in the next 12 months.

"We are just going through all of our concept designs at the moment, which we need to have approved by VIN and also Great South."

Hulance said they would keep staffing in-house for now, but would take on extra staff - possibly over the summer - if that was required.

"There's definitely certain aspects of the region that we would like to promote, that being Great Walks, Local Information and the World Heritage areas," he said.

There are currently three i-Sites and DOC Visitor Centres in Southland. They are in Te Anau and Stewart Island.

Invercargill's i-Site, originally located at Southland Museum, moved to Wachner Place in 2018 before subsequently closing in December 2020.