The Bay Dreams Music Festival 2020 was a big money spinner. Photo / File
Millions of dollars are about to be pumped into the Tauranga economy as the city gears up for its two biggest summer music gigs.
Bay Dreams and One Love are expected to attract thousands of concert-goers, something welcomed by accommodation and hospitality providers, who said the events were ''huge'' for the sector.
This summer Tauranga will again host two of the country's biggest festivals - Bay Dreams North Island and One Love - bringing in combined crowds of about 50,000.
As well as bringing spenders, it will also provide jobs.
Bay Dreams alone has 150 bar staff, 50 gates staff, and 200 security, with similar numbers for One Love.
Both events also had 20 vendors, who would benefit from the events.
One Love is organised by Pato Alvarez, from Pato Entertainment, and Bay Dreams is run by Alvarez, together with Mitch Lowe, from Audiology.
Across all Pato Entertainment events this summer, more than 1000 people will be employed as event staff, 70 per cent of them locals.
Those visiting Tauranga for One Love 2020 and Bay Dreams 2019 spent more than $16 million on accommodation, food and beverage items, retail, activities, and transport services, and contributed a total of 109,482 visitor nights.
The net benefit of the events themselves had pumped more than $9m into the local economy.
In June, a post-evaluation report of Tauranga's One Love Festival found that of the 20,797 people who attended last year's two-day event and 17,996 were visitors to Tauranga who spent more than $7.2m in the city in less than three days.
Similarly, a report into Mount Maunganui's Bay Dreams event released by Fresh Info found of the 29,347 who attended in 2019, 26,802 had come from outside the region, and visitors spent more than $8.8m while in the city.
A separate report was not completed for the 2020 event because of similar visitor numbers, however, this years' crowd will be smaller.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said events were a great way to quickly inject cash into the local economy while showcasing the city in a way that broke down stereotypes people held about Tauranga.
"Most people are excited for the city to be buzzing with domestic tourists over the break.
"Many people are proud of the city's pulse and energy over the busy summer months. They compare it to cities like Hamilton and Wellington that effectively shut down compared to Tauranga."
He said organisers will be mindful that their health and safety plans and initiatives will be under inspection to reduce the risks of it being a super spreader event.
Hospitality New Zealand accommodation sector Bay of Plenty chairman and 850 Cameron Motel owner Tony Bullot said the events would be "huge" for accommodation.
Accommodation capacity around the festivals was on-par with previous years, but the rest of the summer was unknown with no international tourists whom the sector could previously bank on to filling up the city.
"This summer, you've got thousands and thousands of international tourists who won't be here and it's very hard to say what's happening.
"We really don't know what's happening over summer, apart from the festivals ... where we are guaranteed town will be full."
Area and entertainment manager at The Rising Tide and sister bar High Tide Tauranga, Lisa Rooney said the larger events this summer would give tourism and hospitality industries a much-needed boost.
"To help carry businesses through the winter months when things tend to quieten down a great deal," she said.
"We definitely see an increase of customers over the summer period without of towners coming in for the events season, and the events themselves also offer a large boost in jobs for locals in the region."
However, as good as it was for the country to be able to hold the events, she said the wide variety of events with only a New Zealand market meant ticket sales were more steady than previous years.
"There are still fewer people for the larger events than there normally are. There's usually a lot of Australians who buy tickets to the events as well."
Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne said the big-ticket events gave a "fantastic" incentive to travel to the region.
"We are hopeful that this summer will be prosperous for the region's tourism industry, despite the challenging 12 months we have experienced."
Although forecasts for visitor spend for the specific events could not be provided, Dunne said there was a flow-on effect on accommodation, hospitality, retail, and tourism activities.
"Tauranga is a beautiful backdrop for those who come from out of town and contribute to our local economy."
She said coverage of events, like the international cricket series, put the city on the world stage and would bring some of the millions of fans watching to the region when borders opened.
Tourism suffered a "significant blow" when the borders shut and when domestic travel was limited to locals for levels 4 and 3.
"The Kiwis who have heard the call to support local and are exploring their backyard have created a more buoyant domestic tourism market than expected so far."
Hospitality New Zealand Bay of Plenty regional manager Alan Sciascia said the events would not only draw crowds to Tauranga, but would also bring people to the still-suffering Rotorua.
"Events are always important to the economy of our region, especially in the difficult times post-Covid."
Hospitality in Rotorua was "suffering considerably" due to its heavy reliance on the international tourist market.
Tauranga and Mount Maunganui had been less impacted due to being popular among the domestic tourist market, he said.
"These large events have increased importance as they do bring visitors to the region who may otherwise choose to go elsewhere."
• Bay Dreams North Island - Trustpower Arena: January 3
• First We Eat - Tauranga: January 30
• Macky Gee - Mount Maunganui: January 31
• One Love - Tauranga: February 6 and 7
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