Mr Kevin Watkins, QSM, of Hastings, for services to the community and New Zealand-China relations
Kevin Watkins has built 46 floats for the annual Hastings Blossom Parade and Christmas Parade since 1957, as well as building the city’s Father Christmas float. He is a Hastings District Councillor. He created the Chinese Lantern Festival, which attracts 15,000 people annually. He has been a key driver of the Sister-City friendship between Hastings and Guilin, China, and created the Amazing China Face Races, connecting Hastings secondary school students with their Chinese counterparts. Mr Watkins created the ‘Year of Tourism’, which launched at the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing in 2019.