Event Tourism

The 16th annual Pasifika Festival was held from 7-8 March 2008 at Western Springs in Auckland. The Festival is one of the largest community events in the South Pacific, and celebrates the art, culture and lifestyle of the Pacific Island communities of Auckland.

For the past five years Auckland City Council has run an Audience Survey at the Pasifika Festival. Following NZTRI’s survey of stallholders at the 2007 Pasifika Festival, Auckland City Council commissioned NZTRI to survey Audience and Stallholders at the 2008 Pasifika Festival.

NZTRI is working alongside Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) to set the research priorities of the New Zealand sporting events industry. The study is in two phases:

Phase 1: An online survey of event experts to determine a set of overall research ‘themes’. The outcomes of this initial analysis were used to inform the survey questions of the second phase.

NZTRI conducted a spectator survey for the 2007 Rally New Zealand in Mystery Creek on Saturday 1 September. Data collection was by means of a clipboard survey with spectators at the rally. The project is due for completion in October. The project findings will form part of a worldwide composite report compiled by similar university research in other participating WRC countries, in this case the Spanish, Finnish, German and Irish WRC rounds.

This research involved two phases: an economic impact study and a study on resident perceptions of the event. Online surveys of local businesses and participants were conducted to assess the local impacts of the event on Taupo. A survey of Taupo residents sought information on how events such as the Ironman impact on local residents’ quality of life, and how local residents respond to possible event related issues such as crowding and congestion, and increased pride and community spirit.

In conjunction with Geoff Dickson and Sean Phelps from the School of Sport and Recreation, NZTRI conducted a series of online surveys of participants attending the Contact Energy National Triathlon Series in New Plymouth, Devonport, Taupo, Napier, Wellington and Whangamata. We review participant characteristics and attitudes towards the event, destination and activity factors, the quality of the event performance, the experience quality of the event, and behavioural intensions of respondents.