Waipā visitor boom

Record numbers in Victoria Street during the festival carnival. Photo: Mary Anne Gill

Cambridge Chamber of Commerce says 50,000 people through the central business district last week proves the economic benefit events bring to the district.

Numbers hit an all-time high on March 26 when the Autumn Festival’s Main Street Carnival and Art Market and the New Zealand secondary schools rowing champs’ Maadi Parade were held.

More than 4400 people were counted on the chamber’s pedestrian counter walking past Unichem Pharmacy in Victoria Street, nearly 400 per cent up on the same day last year.

The increase went right through the week with numbers up from 17 per cent on Saturday to 45 per cent on Tuesday March 28.

“Our township certainly came alive,” said Chamber of Commerce chief executive Kelly Bouzaid.

Kelly Bouzaid

The town was “hectic”.

“We have long known the value of economic contribution that events bring to Waipā and recent events have been demonstrative of this, providing a welcome boost to our retail and hospitality business.”

Autumn Festival chair Alana Mackay said numbers for their events were up on previous years with the most popular being the sold-out Youth Waikato Orchestra concert in the Town Hall on Sunday.

The three musical events at Te Awa’s Woolshed Village Centre – Big Band Bonanza, Thursday Night Blues and Paint it Jazz – all proved the merit of teaming up with the retirement village, she said.

Conservative estimates are that at least 7200 people attended festival activities.

Alana Mackay

Bouzaid said she would be talking to Waipā District Council about the lack of economic information coming out of the council.

“We’re looking for some datasets to allow us to do better forecasting,” she said.

Through a spokesperson, the council said it had not determined whether or not to seek an official report on economic activity from recent events.

Council has done so in the past, more recently in 2016.

Infometrics publish a Waipā quarterly economic report.

The last one in December showed the district’s gross domestic product grew 2.5 per cent – below the country’s 2.8 per cent.

Consumer spending drove the local economy while tourism activity was up 25.8 per cent, well ahead of the country’s 18.9 per cent.

More Recent News

News ….. in brief

Zambia wins polo Zambia beat New Zealand 4-3 in the women’s international polo test at Cambridge Polo Club’s field in Leamington yesterday. Goals came from Kayleigh Clayton, 2, Nunu Henderson and Mary Jellis, one each…

Christmas spirit

Forty-two Cambridge residents enjoyed Christmas a little more last year thanks to the efforts of Cambridge Altrusa Club and the generosity of locals. They were presented with gifts given through the club’s second ‘Santa to…

Big rise in Waipā bus use

The investment made into Waikato public transport is bearing fruit with the numbers of people catching the bus last year from regional towns to and from Hamilton well up on 2023. The big mover was…

Fluoride opponent from USA to speak

American lawyer Michael Connett has been booked to speak in Cambridge early next month. Connett has been a prominent figure in a legal crusade against fluoride in drinking water in the US, and he will…