How Crankworx Rotorua is bouncing back from tough year

Crankworx Rotorua event director Ariki Tibble at a previous event. Photo / Laura Smith

In the months after the “traumatic” Rotorua Crankworx event in March, its organiser Ariki Tibble says he had “the opposite of rose-tinted glasses”.

The major annual international mountain biking festival – drawing thousands of visitors and worth millions of dollars to Rotorua’s economy – was boycotted by some male riders, among other struggles.

But, with five months until the next one, Tibble – Crankworx Rotorua event director and Crankworx World Tour head of operations – says he and his team have come to see its successes.

Tibble spoke to Rotorua Lakes Council on Wednesday, for the 11th time, to seek “support and encouragement”.

The council has helped fund the event for years, with $250,000 allocated each year from 2022 to 2027. The Government allocated $1 million annually.

Tibble said the 2024 event was “a bit traumatic” and saw domestic sponsorship “bottoming out” as the retail and bike manufacturing sectors were “hit really hard” in the economy, while people had less money in their pockets and discretionary spending dipped.

Male slopestyle riders boycotted the event after failed negotiations around remuneration and support infrastructure.

They participated in the following world tour stops.

He and the Crankworx team initially felt the Rotorua event had been underwhelming and had not hit its marks.

When the data landed, however, he saw there were successes: about 10,000 event attendees, 440 athletes up from 398, 30% more children in its Kidsworx event and more than 1000 entries in the North Island School Mountain Bike Championships.

Its economic impact report showed $4.05 million was spent in Rotorua by festival visitors.

Tibble said commercial investment was the highest it had ever been at more than $1.2m, which showed strong international sponsorship.

This flowed to local businesses, he said.

Crankworx Rotorua event director and Crankworx World Tour head of operations Ariki Tibble at Rotorua Lakes Council. Photo / Laura Smith

Tibble said the boycott was the result of “a bunch of compounding factors that were completely out of our control”.

There was a bright side, however, in that the first Women’s Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship had the spotlight.

“I would have said we needed to get the male riders out of the way somehow.

“The irony of it all was that they did that to themselves.”

His team took lessons from the headwinds and built them into its 2025 plan.

The Rotorua leg of the Crankworx World Tour will be held March 5 to 9, earlier than this year’s to encourage stronger participation from athletes who come for the summer.

Its downhill course will return to Skyline Rotorua, meaning the festival could reduce to five days instead of 10, which sponsors had found “untenable”.

It would be five years since it was a five-day festival.

Tibble said it was also looking to reduce overheads by using technology to find efficiencies, such as using drones.

Where Rotorua’s council comes in

Councillor Conan O’Brien asked if, as international sponsorship increased, the council could look at reducing its contribution after 2027.

Tibble said major events needed public funding to survive. The sweet spot was about 25% to 35% public, and Cranworx was “at the bottom range”. Council investment unlocked government funds via New Zealand Major Events, and losing local funding could make the Government question the event’s value.

“You step into an unknown territory.”

Mountain Bike Events Ltd chairman and former deputy mayor Dave Donaldson told the council its allocation had been eroded by inflation.

“We think it’s a smart investment to the things that matter to the people of Rotorua.”

Rotorua's Eat Streat, a hub of restaurants and bars near the lakefront. Photo / NZME

O’Brien said Eat Streat and Tūtānekai St used to be full during Crankworx, but patronage had decreased.

“It worries me I’m taking ratepayer money from these organisations and businesses and perhaps it’s not been spread evenly.”

Tibble put it down to domestic sponsorships scaling down.

Pre-Covid, domestic sponsors would hold inner-city “activations” to draw people there.

“What’s going to make the difference is the tide coming back in.”

He encouraged O’Brien to think about the big picture.

Councillor Rawiri Waru said the international market was “keen as” on Rotorua as a destination and wondered what the city could put on to be “even more enticing” — kapa haka, for example.

Tibble said Crankworx was “motivated for that”.

”Whenever we are bringing our culture, our local flavour to the table we are bringing our best foot forward.”

Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.