Northland Field Days a $30 million event

22 October, 2008

ENTERPRISE NORTHLAND : MEDIA RELEASES 2008

The Northland Field Days – one of the region's biggest events each year – has an overall economic impact of about $30 million, a new study has found.

The study, by AUT University's Institute of Public Policy, has estimated the event's economic impact at between $27.9 and $31.9 million.

The three-day event, held at Dargaville, attracts about 25,000 visitors each year, including more than 550 exhibitors and their staff.

This year's event, in February/March, was also attended by an AUT University research team, assisted by Education 4 Enterprise (E4E) students from Dargaville High School.

The findings were presented last week to the event organisers, representatives of the Kaipara District Council and local businesspeople, and also to the students who took part.

The study found that visitors to the Northland Field Days spent an average of $738 each, ranging from entry fee, food and accommodation to expenditure on farm equipment.

More than 35 percent of visitors travelled to the event from Auckland or further afield. A further 30 percent came from Whangarei or elsewhere in Northland, with the remainder being Kaipara residents.

Of the visitors who responded to questions about how they were spending their time in Northland, 60 percent said they were spending one day in the region, with a further 26 percent spending two or three days here.

Ninety-four percent of the visitors surveyed indicated that they would be coming back next year.

The event also enjoys a high level of loyalty from exhibitors – almost three-quarters reported that they were returning to the Northland Field Days, having attended an average of seven times in the past.

Just over 60 percent of the exhibitors surveyed reported that they arranged accommodation in Dargaville or the Kaipara District, with an average of five staff staying four nights each.

The study highlighted some areas of potential for the event – such as introducing a wider range of food offerings – and also for other Kaipara businesses to maximise the opportunities from the large number of visitors attracted to the district.

Chairman of the Northland Field Days organising committee, David Phillips, said the event's economic impact was higher than he had expected.

The Northland Field Days was first held in 1985 as a Dargaville Jaycees project and continues to be organised by a committee of volunteers on a non-profit basis – financial surpluses are returned to the community each year through grants. It is also an opportunity for organisations such as sports clubs and schools to earn income by providing services to the event.

This year's event was held on a new, larger site for the first time, drawing favourable comment from both visitors and exhibitors. The event had outgrown its previous location, and as a result the organisers bought a new permanent 33-hectare site. Improvements to the site are already planned for next year's event, including traffic management aspects.

Mr Phillips said the organisers were also looking at other ways to make use of the new site throughout the year.