Huhu grubs and wild fodder bring in $6m
Hokitika Wildfood Festival earns region more than $6 million.
The fascination of huhu grubs and sheep’s testicles helped generate $6.5 million to the Westland economy.
This is the guestimate in a report by Business and Economic Research about the benefit of the 2012 Hokitika Wildfoods Festival.
The study was carried out for the Westland District Council.
The BERL report estimated that the festival directly created 47 full-time equivalent jobs and contributed around 6% of the tourism sector’s GDP.
Tourism operators earned $5 million as a direct result of the event and contributed $2.6 million to the district’s GDP.
The festival saw the number of visitors to the Westland region increase to 14,100 in March, compared to a monthly average of just 3000.
The vast majority (90%) of visitors came from outside the district and some stayed several days in rented accommodation.
About 80% of visitors rated the festival highly.
Chris Hutching
Tue, 12 Jun 2012
Tue, 12 Jun 2012
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Huhu grubs and wild fodder bring in $6m
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