The 2008 Sister Cities Conference is being held in Rotorua at the Novotel Lakeside Rotorua Hotel from Thursday 10 – Saturday 12 April 2008. Registrations for the conference are now open. You can register online via the following link: http://www.theorganiser.co.nz/2008conference/sisters.asp
Alternatively please contact Daniela Entwisle on 07 343 1731 or email theorganiser@RotoruaNZ.com to have a registration form posted to you.
For further information about the conference, such as the conference programme, pre and post conference tours, and Partner Programmes, please visit the following website:
http://www.sistercities.org.nz/Editable/news/conferences.shtml
If you have any queries regarding the conference please contact either Sue White (07 348 4199 ext 8115) or Daniela Entwisle (07 343 1731).
We look forward to welcoming you to Rotorua for what will be an exciting conference!
For further information check out the poster:SisterCityPoster.pdf
After a period of visits and discussion, Rotorua was formally linked to Beppu during a visit to Japan in 1987 by Rotorua's then Mayor and Mayoress, Mr and Mrs J E Keaney. Other members of the visiting party included various Councillors, senior Council Staff, and a number of Rotorua residents. Beppu is a coastal city on the southern island of Kyushu with a population of some 125,000. It features considerable geothermal activity and its economy is based on tourism.
For further information check out the Beppu City website: http://www.city.beppu.oita.jp/51englishpage/index.html
Rotorua was linked to Klamath Falls in 1962 after considerable work by the then Public Relations Officer, Mr Dick Spurdle. A number of visits by civic dignitaries and citizens have subsequently been exchanged. Klamath Falls is an inland city close to the state line with California. Forestry and associated industries are significant land uses, and the ethnic Indian population is an important component of the area's character.
Discussions on an Australian Sister City relationship commenced in 1994 at a meeting involving Councillor Bill Hanley of Lake Macquarie City Council, Rotorua District Councillor Knocker Dean, and the late Mr Greg Fraser of Rotorua. The relationship was formalised in 1997 with the reciprocal signing of a Sister City agreement in both Rotorua and Lake Macquarie.
Lake Macquarie is located approximately 100kms north of Sydney and is centred on Australia's largest coastal lake (four times the size of Sydney Harbour). Both the city and the lake are flanked by the Watagan Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
In October 1997, Wuxian City in China and Rotorua District Council entered into a friendship relationship which led to the formalisation of a Sister City relationship in February 2000. A subsequent restructuring of local government in the Jiangsu Province resulted in Wuxian City being disestablished, and the area being divided into Wuzhong District and Xiangchen District. A revised Sister City agreement was signed between Rotorua and Wuzhong District.
Wuzhong is about 90 kilometres west of the major international shipping and trade centre of Shanghai. The District has a population of around 580,000 spread over seventeen towns. Wuzhong is an historical and cultural District, and is the original area of the famous Wu culture that can be traced back more than 10,000 years.
For further information on Rotorua's Sister Cities, contact the
Community Services Officer
.