The days of Cambridge retailers benefitting at the tills from having a national event just up the road seem to have whittled into insignificance.
And the result has prompted a call for a more strategic retail approach to big events like Fieldays, which wrapped up on Saturday afternoon.
Kelly Bouzaid
The usual “spillover” effect largely bypassed the town, said Cambridge Chamber of Commerce chief executive Kelly Bouzaid.
Pedestrian counts in Cambridge started well on Wednesday but the days that followed were consistently down on last year.
“Cambridge retail has been doing it tough in recent months and we had hoped for a spike in foot traffic during Fieldays,” said Bouzaid.
“Unfortunately, that reprieve didn’t come, and the week ended five per cent down on this time last year,” she said.
Food and accommodation – traditionally the big winners – had mixed fortunes.
A road transport plan which took leaving Fieldays and returning south to Cambridge or Te Awamutu via Kaipaki Road out of the scenario with all traffic funnelled into Airport Road and out to SH3 and Waikato Expressway, may have also had an impact.
Aerial view of Fieldays 2024.
Fieldays Customer and Strategic Engagement head Taryn Storey said the event – which saw 106,000 visitors through the gates, up 1000 from last year – was a true celebration of the primary sector and its achievements.
“It’s more than just the primary sector, it’s a very important local and national event,” she said.
“If the vibe is anything to go by, it felt very, very positive.”
But the economic headwinds have produced a different event for this year’s 1069 exhibitors.
“Those cost pressures have meant they have had to turn up in a different way and that could well be they are travelling rather than staying local and eating local.”
Mystery Creek was a destination which had to cater for its visitors. There were three food courts this year and more entertainment and dining options.
Tickets could only be bought online and there were plenty of free public transport options.
“We have to make sure we are providing a visitor experience, and we get a lot of feedback every year around ensuring there is a balance and a variety of food, seating, amenities generally,” said Storey.
Ruth Crampton
Destination Cambridge general manager Ruth Crampton said there was still accommodation availability during the week.
“We had received a number of people offering their homes and not one of them was booked as we had enough commercial accommodation available.
“Everybody tries to gouge during Fieldays and with the cost of living as it is, it has to stop,” she said.
Visitors who sought local information at the i-Site came before Fieldays started last Wednesday.
“We didn’t see the visitors coming into us or in fact Cambridge as our foot counts showed.”
Both Crampton and Bouzaid said it was time to harness the economic benefits more effectively.
“This highlights the need for a more strategic retail approach to ensure that we leverage such large-scale events,” said Bouzaid.
Crampton said that was becoming increasingly difficult as National Fieldays Society wanted to keep its visitors at Mystery Creek for as long as they could to get the economic benefit.
Trying to market Waipā to visitors was pointless, she said.
“Waipā is not a brand, it’s a region and Hamilton takes the glory from Fieldays. We market Cambridge.”
Prime position: from left Logan Wood, Christopher Luxon, Ioane Tierney, Duzza McJury and Sam Bellzy on day one at Fieldays where the prime minister was constantly being asked to take selfies. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
