Te Ara Pounamu Limited

Name

Te Ara Pounamu Limited

Legal name

Te Ara Pounamu Limited

Website

https://tearapounamu.co.nz

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Tourism & Heritage Experiences

NAICS

Historical Sites (71212), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Indigenous & Community Cultural Institutions (THAJADAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Private Cultural Immersion & Heritage Experiences (Local Hosts, Traditions) (THAJALAJ)

Keywords

• Cultural tourism
• Immersive storytelling
• Indigenous heritage experiences
• Museum exhibitions
• Geolocation wayfinding app

Headquarters

HQ city

Greymouth

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Experience Center Admissions: Ticket sales for immersive storytelling experiences at Māwhera Pā (Greymouth) and Kawatiri (Westport) experience centers. Bookings made through FareHarbor platform with payment required at time of booking.
2. Merchandise Sales: The Māwhera Pā shop offers traditional and contemporary authentic Ngai Tahu, New Zealand Pounamu jewellery, and art pieces along with high-quality merchandise.
3. Gift Vouchers: Gift vouchers for visitor experiences sold online through the booking page or via email request.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Te Ara Pounamu Limited operates the Pounamu Pathway, an immersive Māori cultural storytelling experience delivered across four linked experience centres on New Zealand's West Coast/Te Tai o Poutini (Greymouth, Westport, Hokitika, Franz Josef). The offering combines authentic Poutini Ngāi Tahu cultural narratives, legends, and history of Pounamu (greenstone) with Wētā Workshop-built multimedia exhibits, digital light displays, and a geolocation-enabled mobile Wayfinder app. Customers buy tickets through FareHarbor for centre admission and can purchase on-site merchandise and gift vouchers.

Product overview

Te Ara Pounamu Limited operates the Pounamu Pathway, a single unified immersive cultural tourism product consisting of four linked experience centers across the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. The offering includes physical visitor experiences at Māwhera Pā (Greymouth) and Kawatiri (Westport), with two additional centers under development at Hokitika and Waiau (Franz Josef). A companion Wayfinder App extends the experience digitally. The four hubs are connected through both physical visits and a digital pathway featuring Pou Whenua (places of significance) that guide users through the region's natural icons and attractions. Created in partnership with Wētā Workshop, the experience uses digital displays, multimedia storytelling, and interactive exhibits to showcase Māori legends, settlements, battles, and the trade of Pounamu (greenstone).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Māwhera Pā: Experience centre in Greymouth - the ancestral home of Poutini Ngāi Tahu, featuring storytelling about the people of Poutini Ngāi Tahu and the Māwhera Pā settlement.
• Kawatiri
• Pounamu Pathway Wayfinder App

Products and services

• Pounamu Pathway Immersive Storytelling Experience

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Wētā WorkshopcoreTechnology or IntegrationCreative partnership with Wētā Workshop, renowned for bringing imaginary worlds to life for entertainment and creative industries. Wētā Workshop created the visitor experience combining digital and immersive technology that is fun, surprising, creative, and unique to the West Coast. They bring cultural experiences to life through multimedia technology including digital light displays, graphics, and exhibition pieces.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Orana Wildlife Park: Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch is a regional attraction on NZ's South Island combining wildlife conservation with visitor experiences. Comparable as a small-to-mid South Island attraction operator, though focused on wildlife rather than cultural storytelling.
• Franz Josef Glacier Guides / Glacier Hot Pools: Franz Josef Glacier tourism operators serve the same West Coast visitor traffic that Te Ara Pounamu's Waiau/Franz Josef hub would target. Comparable as a regional tourism operator on the West Coast/Te Tai o Poutini corridor, presenting a potential co-marketing and cross-promotion partner for the multi-hub strategy.

Direct peers

• Hobbiton Movie Set Tours: Hobbiton Movie Set Tours in Matamata is a film-set driven visitor attraction created with creative input from the broader Wētā Workshop ecosystem. Comparable as a NZ immersive tourism experience leveraging world-class production design to differentiate via storytelling quality and visual immersion.
• Te Puia (New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute): Te Puia operates an iconic Māori cultural experience in Rotorua featuring geothermal wonders, Māori arts/crafts, and the Te Whakarewarewatanga thermal reserve. It is the most directly comparable NZ indigenous cultural tourism operator with immersive cultural storytelling, traditional crafts, and heritage education as core offerings.
• Waitangi Treaty Grounds: Waitangi Treaty Grounds in the Bay of Islands is a heritage site offering cultural performances, guided tours, and museum exhibitions tied to the Treaty of Waitangi. Comparable as a Māori heritage site operator delivering cultural interpretation, museum-style exhibits, and visitor experiences on a significant historical site.
• Tamaki Māori Village: Tamaki Māori Village in Rotorua delivers an evening cultural experience with traditional Māori performance, hangi dinner, and storytelling hosted by local iwi. Comparable as a direct-to-consumer indigenous cultural storytelling tourism experience, though more performance/host-led than technology-led.
• Mitai Māori Village: Mitai Māori Village offers an evening cultural experience in Rotorua featuring warrior canoeing, traditional hangi, and Māori performance. Comparable as a small-to-mid-sized indigenous cultural storytelling tourism operator targeting both domestic and international visitors to NZ.

Others

• Pulse Records / Artifact Studios: NZ-based immersive digital media studios that supply creative production services for visitor attractions, museums, and cultural institutions. Comparable as an enabling ecosystem partner providing the kind of multimedia storytelling capability that Te Ara Pounamu's Wētā Workshop partnership represents.

Emerging players

• Weta Workshop Experiences (Wellington): Weta Workshop Experiences in Miramar, Wellington offers interactive tours and workshops that showcase film-making craft and effects. Comparable as an emerging immersive visitor experience leveraging the same Weta Workshop creative capability that Te Ara Pounamu partners with, though focused on film effects rather than indigenous storytelling.

Broad incumbents

• Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand): Te Papa is New Zealand's national museum in Wellington offering large-scale exhibitions on Māori history, natural environment, and national identity. Comparable as a museum/historical institution operator delivering cultural interpretation, though at much greater scale and without the iwi-aligned regional focus of Te Ara Pounamu.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PounamuPathway
• Facebookfacebook.com/PounamuPathway
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pounamu-pathway
• Instagraminstagram.com/PounamuPathway

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Te Ara Pounamu Limited