Bay of Plenty of less than $20,000, compared with 43.2% of people nationally. Unemployment was at 6.1% of people 15 years or older, compared with 5.1% nationally. The Bay of Plenty is a popular holiday destination due to the warm and sunny summer climate and public beaches. The Bay of Plenty received over 645,000 tourists in 2003, equivalent to one in three visitors to New Zealand coming to the region. Rotorua is a popular destination for international visitors, in particular the surrounding geothermal areas and Māori cultural centres. Tauranga is a popular domestic tourism destination, and also becoming popular internationally. Whale watching has
Bay of Plenty (New Zealand electorate) for the first time, including Bay of Plenty. The current Bay of Plenty electorate is wrapped around Tauranga city, but does not include the city. It does include Matakana Island. Prior to the 2007 boundary review, it did not extend to the western side of Tauranga or to Matakana Island. Instead it comprised a section of the central Bay of Plenty coast, from the eastern periphery of the Tauranga urban area to outside the main populated part of Whakatane. It included the towns of Te Puke, Edgecumbe and Papamoa. Rapid population growth around Tauranga has driven considerable boundary change at