The Fieldays 2016 Economic Impact Report, independently prepared by consulting economist Dr Warren Hughes and the University of Waikato Management School’s Institute of Business Research, was released last night at a function at the Mystery Creek Events Centre.
“I am delighted with the report,” NZ National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation said.
“This report further reinforces the massive economic contribution to Waikato and NZ.”
The report found that National Fieldays 2016, which ran from June 15-18, generated $430m in sales revenue for NZ firms, up 9% from 2015.
Of that, $124.5m in revenue was generated for firms in the Waikato region.
The impact to GDP was calculated at $58m for Waikato and $191m for all of NZ.
“Fieldays is a fantastic event that keeps going from strength to strength,” Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said.
“It has provided a wonderful opportunity to get rural and urban people understanding what happens when you go beyond the farmgate or orchardgate.”
“One of the highlights of the report is that, despite the downturn in dairying, the results were better than expected,” the report’s author, Warren Hughes, said.
“The number of exhibitor sites went up 4% to 1507 and the number of gate entries also increased to 130,684, about 4% higher than 2015.”
It was found that for every visitor through the gate, this year’s Fieldays generated $3300 in sales revenue for NZ firms including machinery and equipment sales.
In total, 60% of Fieldays visitors bought or planned to buy equipment this year, compared to 53% in 2015.
Fieldays helped generate 708 (full-time equivalent) new jobs for Waikato, and a total of 2021 new jobs across all of NZ for 2016 (up 13% since last year).
