The positive economic impact of the National Fieldays held annually at Mystery Creek since 1968, can be felt far beyond the Waikato region says a Waikato University report.
The report was prepared by Dr Warren Hughes for The Institute of Business Research at Waikato University, says that visitor expenditure, equipment sales, and organisational expenditure at Fieldays tallied up to $138.20 million for the Waikato region, and for all of New Zealand the tally came to $421 million.
Waikato sales were up 8.2% from 2013, and sales for all of New Zealand rose by 13.7% from 2013.
Fieldays 2014 generated $175 million in additional GDP for the New Zealand economy in 2014, and a $52 million addition to Waikato GDP.
Visitor expenditure generates $34 million annually to the Waikato economy, and every gate entry by a visitor to the region generates $528 of expenditure on accommodation, restaurants, and other recreation for Waikato businesses.
Visitor expenditure outside the Waikato region generates $5.76 million for the rest of New Zealand.
Every one of the 119,892 gate entries (man, woman, or child) at 2014 Fieldays generates $3500 in sales revenue for New Zealand firms – including machinery and equipment sales.
The report says that every dollar expended at Fieldays on accommodation, equipment sales, organisational infrastructure etc, generated another $1.30 of sales revenue somewhere else in the New Zealand economy, including the Waikato region.
