Global push for festive meet

All the trappings of a Kiwi Christmas has had major exposure in Europe as the Wanganui Cemetery Circuit Boxing Day motorcycle meeting's promotional machine kicks into gear.

The annual fixture is the largest on the Wanganui events calendar attracting over 10,000 people and that could change for the better this season.

Cemetery Circuit promoter Allan "Flea" Willacy said the organisation had taken advantage of a rare invitation for a Southern Hemisphere motorcycle event, which was poised to showcase what the River City had to offer.

"We were approached by the publishers of the official Isle of Man TT programme to place an advertisement letting all of Europe know what happens here in Wanganui on Boxing Day.

"It is the first time any event like this outside Europe has been invited to participate," Willacy said yesterday.

"There are more than 40,000 programmes printed and pre-sold throughout all the major cities of Europe, so the exposure is huge. The Isle of Man TT is probably one of the most famous motorcycle events in the world, while the Cemetery Circuit is certainly New Zealand's best street race. We have purposely promoted Wanganui as well as our motorcycle meeting as the place to be at Christmas.

"We have links to our website and links to Harvey World of Travel here in Wanganui so potential visitors can take advantages of special packages on offer. We have not only pitched our campaign at attracting riders, but also spectators."

Willacy said in addition to the promotional pitch in the official programme, the Cemetery Circuit's history and culture is comprehensively documented in a five-page article in the English Motorcycle Magazine, arguably the largest of its kind in Europe.

The Boxing Day meeting traditionally marked the final round of the Suzuki New Zealand Tri Series, but from this season the event is known simply as the New Zealand Suzuki Series - The Southern TT.

"We dropped the Tri Series tag because we are looking at growing the event and sometime in the future we may even look at having a four-race series and to have our story in the English Motorcycle Magazine is invaluable," Willacy said.