Hawke’s Bay event director welcomes $70m Government tourism package, hopes boost to tourism, major events could attract big acts

The crowd joined in on the act at Sir Elton John's Mission Concert in 2020. Photo / NZME

A Hawke’s Bay event director is welcoming the Government’s announcement of a $70 million funding boost for major events and tourism projects.

Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston said in the announcement on September 14 that the funding will drive economic activity and confidence across New Zealand.

“Tourism is New Zealand’s second-largest export earner, directly contributing $17 billion to GDP and supporting nearly 200,000 jobs,” Upston said.

Mission Estate Winery event director Garry Craft spoke to RNZ’s Morning Report last week about his hopes that the cash injection would attract high-profile entertainers to the region.

The Government package includes a $40 million Events Attraction Package to secure large-scale international events from 2026, a $10 million Events Boost Fund to support existing events and attract international opportunities, a $10 million Regional Tourism Boost Campaign to incentivise international visitors and up to $10 million for tourism infrastructure upgrades, including cycle trails.

Craft said currently it was “extremely hard” to attract big acts, with the main reason being that touring costs have risen.

“Tours are looking for cost-cutting methods and that leads to less activity in regional markets.”

He said some tours had even bypassed New Zealand altogether.

Craft said the funding would need to be used carefully and the big one-off extravaganzas were expected to use more of the government funding more quickly.

“If the Government is looking to try and increase support of domestic tourism and bring people into regional areas or even bring people from the South or North Island or reverse, that’s much more affordable and the money would go a lot further to assist those producers.”

He said in the case of the Mission Estate Winery Concert, 60% of people who attended it over the last 30 years came from outside the Hawke’s Bay area.

“It benefits everyone, the traders, the restaurants, the cafes, the hotels, so it has a major impact on local tourism.

Craft said suppliers would also benefit, and he justified the Government’s spending by the economic benefit to the regions.

“Its a broad injection of funding into regional areas.”

Hawke’s Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton said it was in discussion with neighbouring regions on the opportunities.

“In the last round of funding, we worked collectively on a central New Zealand (Taranaki, Manawatū, Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Nelson and Marlborough) joint initiative targeting the Australian market with conversion partners including Webjet and Tripadvisor. We were also part of an initiative in the US market.”

Saxton said working with other regions was the sensible approach when aiming to drive visitation from international markets.

“The more arrivals to New Zealand, the greater the opportunity for Hawke’s Bay to benefit.

“We would want to be a part of initiatives that target visitation from Australian and North American markets in particular, with a focus on building the autumn shoulder season.”

Upston said the investment would energise the events sector and allow New Zealand to compete with Australia to host big acts.

“This level of investment in events represents a significant funding boost and, for international comparison, puts New Zealand on a par with Queensland.”

Upston said it would give international visitors even more reasons to explore New Zealand and encourage Kiwis to get out and about.

“Major events, whether they are sports showdowns, the world’s most popular artists or well-loved favourites, can be a bonanza for the cities and regions which host them, supporting local jobs and incomes in the hospitality and retail sectors and beyond.”

– RNZ and NZME reporting.