Festival-goers bring plenty of business, spending
“outstanding” examples of “the economic power events can contribute to our community”, also providing employment opportunities.
“Events such as Bay Dreams and One Love not only create opportunities for locals to enjoy world-class entertainment, but they also boost the local economy, by giving visitors an opportunity to enjoy our retail and hospitality offerings,” Powell said.
On top of the visitor nights and financial boost, the reports also showed the majority of attendees had an improved perception of Tauranga, claimed attending improved their perception of living in Tauranga and agreed their perception of Tauranga as a place to do business had also improved.
“These findings highlight some of the many reasons why it’s important as a city to attract and support events. Events are widely acknowledged as an effective way to build a city’s reputation, community pride and inspire social connectivity.”
Powell said the social and economic impacts identified were positive for the city because if visitors enjoyed themselves in Tauranga it typically meant return visits.
As Tauranga recovered from the impacts of Covid-19, Powell said these events would help.
“Although these particular events are held during peak tourism periods, they will still be significant contributors to our local economy during the pandemic recovery period. Events such as these provide domestic visitors with another reason to visit our region, which in turn will help support our hospitality and accommodation sectors, both of which have been significantly impacted by Covid-19.
“Despite the challenges they are facing in light of this global pandemic, I salute these event organisers and the entire industry for their continued commitment to organising great events for our city.”
Alvarez and Lowe said they were proud to be doing their part for the Tauranga community, and were thankful of the continued support of their events.
“We’ve always been excited by the idea of people gathering from around the nation to enjoy our events, and to see what this amazing city has to offer. Living local we get to see the support first hand, we have a love for all the small businesses in the area and want to see them flourish. Let’s do it all again this summer,” Lowe said.
“Our focus from day one has been to grow Tauranga into an event capital, with the goal that it would be recognised internationally due to the scale of artists we host. We’ve been honoured to be a part of the journey for many years and are proud of the economic impact it has across many sectors,” Alvarez said.
Victoria Thomas, who owns Tau