A fresh, collborative, community-led approach has breathed life into a new Tourism Concept.

The concept is a fusion between traditional hotels and cloud-based software.

It provides singles, couples and small groups with a clean, safe and more regenerative way to travel.

They were winners of the Major Raffle Prize for The Festival in the Gardens fundraising event presented by the Zonta Club of Rotorua, held at Palmers in late 2020.

The prize draw was sponsored by local Accommodation and Events company Look After Me. 

Accommodation around New Zealand has taken a major hit in the wake of Covid-19. But revealing new statistics suggest that bed and breakfast providers like Viv may stand to benefit from a new wave of travellers.

It was aimed at bringing support to local tourism operators and cafe owners following the lockdown.

The initiative called Keep Calm and Carry On aims to hold virtual and real tea party events in Dunedin and Rotorua.

Once NZ moves to a lower alert level, 62% of New Zealanders are ‘extremely likely’ to travel nationally.

Cleanliness is now the number one factor that will influence guests buying decisions, nudging ahead of price. Location, comfort and wi-fi were also considerations.

They also discussed expanding to include Creative Events and Educational Festivals and navigating some of the difficulties involved with pioneering the shared access economy in New Zealand.

Otago Motel Association executive member Michael Young, who owns 858 on George Street, said accommodation was still available at the city’s motels over the weekend, as many people had booked before they secured concert tickets and ended up changing their bookings.

Entrepreneur, Dr Julia Charity, launched her new digital hotel, with the help of the Mayor of Dunedin, His Worship Dave Cull, and actress Rebecca Gibney. Homeowners can now take advantage of a new web-based platform, to offer their spare rooms and the comfort of their homes for hire.

Julia tells us about the story behind Look After Me and her latest intitiative in Dunedin. 

Dr Charity is now looking for at least 400 homeowners willing to host guests for summer events, such as the Ed Sheeran concerts, and beyond.

Dr Julia Charity, a scientist, entrepreneur and recent arrival in the city, is launching a “Sharin’ for Sheeran” campaign, creating a digital hotel under the umbrella of her nationwide Look After Me accommodation network.

With over 55 years experience in New Zealand’s tourism industry, Mike Johnson brings a wealth of experience, including twenty-five years owning an international tourism marketing company and involvement with national tourism bodies.

By Monica Lewis

Traveling incites some wonderful sayings. One of my favourite quotes is this;

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

I couldn’t agree more and personally I’d like to read all the pages and see the greenest of grass on the other side. But even if you have retired we may have the time to travel, there is the sordid question of the 'means'.

When one grows-up, intrepid travel does seem less romantic. Sleeping in a tent or in bunk beds in a dormitory loses its appeal for some of us and understandably so. There are the physical restrictions once the bones have gone weary. 

Charity’s company, ‘Look After Me’ launched in July 2011, ahead of the Rugby World Cup. It is an on-line market place that sells accommodation for short-term stays all over New Zealand.

Look After Me customers can now create an account on HomeExchange with their existing User email and Password and become active members of the international community. A badge on their profile shows guests and hosts that they are also a member of the world’s largest home exchange network.

Disabled Diving NZ's Hielke Oppers inspired the 100 plus crowd and the judges to win both Best Social Enterprise Pitch and the People's Choice Award at Rotorua X's Start-up Pitch night.

Julia Charity's 'Look After Me' accommodation business, won Best Commercial Pitch at the event, held this week.

Both took a share of the $8000 prize pool of business support services, mentoring and training.

Two Rotorua businesses have been named as national finalists in The David Awards for 2015.

Ros Morshead, of Morshead Law is a finalist in the ‘Most Outstanding Lifestyle Business’ for her work in epitomising the ability to use technology to integrate business and lifestyle.

Dr Julia Charity who founded Look After Me – an online market place for accommodation all over New Zealand, is a finalist for ‘The Solo Meo Award’ which recognises a business owner who runs their business single-handedly.

Look After Me is also a finalist for the ‘Most Outstanding Triumph over Adversity’ in recognition for success in spite of challenges beyond the usual.

Julia explains why Look After Me specialy describes how the local council has got behind her and discusses inplications for the tourism industry of New Zealand.

What follows is the transcript of the interview. 

To go straight to the interview click here.

What to do, once you’ve withdrawn from the daily duty of putting bread on the table? Have you ever wondered about turning your home into your business?

A wonderful Robert Palmer song sums it up in the opening line; “the fight to make ends meet keep a man on his feet” (click to hear the song)

Despite our moaning about the traffic when we were obliged to travel to the office every day - maybe now we miss it! Without the deadlines and obligations which in turn give the drive to get started in the morning; what to do with all that available time?  Sure for some there are family demands, clubs or volunteer commitments that help fill the day but those activities take up time and money and give back – let’s say - a non-material return on investment . For some of us the chance to make a bit of pocket money while doing something we love doesn’t sound so bad. 

Q&A Session With New Zealand entrepreneur Dr. Julia Charity.  She talks with Caitlin Sykes about the online marketplace.

Published in Business section of the New Zealand Herald.

Accommodation is filling up as farmers and football fans prepare to pour into Hamilton next week.

An overlap of Fieldays and the Fifa U-20s World Cup has seen much of the accommodation snapped up, but there are still some rooms remaining in the city's motel sector. 

[published in Management Magazine, April 2015]

Rotorua scientist-turned-entrepreneur Julia Charity led a panel discussion of seven prominent Kiwi businesswomen to launch a female entrepreneur week.

The Chinese version of the show, 'Daddy, where are we Going' was filmed in Rotorua and at Hobbiton.

The show was watched by an estimated 404 million viewers live and 1.4 billion via global satellite. 

TV Rotorua's report Kiri Danielle visited Althea (a Look After Me Host in Rotorua) at her beautiful B&B 'Pohutu Vista'. Althea explains why she joined the Homestay Network and what she enjoys about hosting guests.

Watch Video

It’s an on-line market place where homeowners offer short-term accommodation for paying guests in guest wings, self-contained units and spare rooms. ‘Look After Me’ provides accommodation on 18 of New Zealand’s 23 Cycle Trails and supports major events like Art Deco in Napier and Womad in New Plymouth.

With the Cricket World Cup 2015 underway, the seven host cities are expected to reach full capacity. Backpackers, hotels and motels are being snapped up as thousands of supporters from around the world support one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

The show, called Dad, Where Are We Going?, has been filming in Rotorua and the central North Island for a week, with its stars visiting some of the region's most picturesque locations. 

聚光灯下的Rotorua—中国的“爸爸去哪儿”

在中国的一档最受欢迎的电视真人秀“爸爸去哪儿”中，Rotorua 扮演了一个很重要的角色，因为目前这档将会被数百万的潜在观众观看的节目，正在这里进行着为期一周的拍摄，而节目中的明星们正也参观着当地最风景如画的地方。Rotorua这个地区的迷人风景将会呈现在“爸爸去哪儿第二季” 最近的两集中。但是由于双方合同的一些限制，具体拍摄的一些地方的细节问题还不能对外公开。