Attendances of more than 31,000 at the 2006 New Zealand Herald Christmas Carnival contributed more than $4.3 million in real gross regional product to the Auckland economy, it was revealed in an economic impact report commissioned by the New Zealand Racing Board released yesterday.
Fashion retailers were oneof the biggest winners from the carnival, with visitors buying more than 13,000 fashion items in the Auckland region. Visitors spent more than $680,000 on hats, shoes, jewellery and sunglasses for the three-day event.
New Zealand Racing Board chief executive Graeme Hansen said the three days of horse racing, fashion and entertainment at Ellerslie stimulated spending across the Auckland region with non-local visitors to the region accounting for $1.4 million or 29 per cent of direct expenditure.
"The report findings show that the marketing and entertainment initiatives that have been put in place by the Auckland Racing Club have been successful in attracting visitors to the Auckland region during the Christmas and New Year holiday period," Hansen said.
More than 20 per cent of visitors to the carnival travelled from outside the greater Auckland region with about 7 per cent of these from the South Island or overseas staying between two and three days.
Visitors from the North Island recorded the highest level of daily spending at $266.02 a day. Overseas visitors spent on average $246.18 a day.
Auckland Racing Club marketing director Rachel Holland said the high proportion of local visitors to the carnival and the high proportion of people attending events with family and friends reflected the family nature of the Christmas and New Year period. The Boxing Day event attracted the biggest turnout with more than 18,000 on-course.
"Our goal is to provide an exciting carnival atmosphere at Ellerslie over the festive Christmas and New Year period and we are extremely pleased to see that the event has been successful in attracting visitors to the region."
Visitors to the three race meetings at Ellerslie generated direct expenditure in excess of $4.8 million, of which $2.4 million was generated from wagering revenue.
The economic impact study was commissioned by the New Zealand Racing Board and undertaken by Melbourne-based IER.
