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A tourism events fund set up after the COVID-19 pandemic has generated $220 million in direct economic impact for communities in the ‘Thermal Explorer’ regions of Waikato, Rotorua, Taupō and Ruapehu.
That’s the finding of an economic impact assessment released by the Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund Investment Management Panel this month, following the completion of the last of the 48 events the fund supported – the Karapiro Marathon – in April.
Set up in 2020 to stimulate domestic tourism, the $3.75 million Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund provided contestable event grants across three separate funding rounds. The events it supported catered for a total audience of 532,468 people, including 249,909 visitors from outside the regions the events were hosted in.
“From sports events and major expos to cultural events and music, food and arts festivals, the fund helped support and invigorate the events sector and communities at a time that help was sorely needed,” says Hamilton & Waikato Tourism general manager Nicola Greenwell.
“The impact assessment shows the fund generated an impressive $58 return across the region for every dollar of government funding, with a large portion of that coming from visitor spending on things like accommodation, food and visits to local bars and restaurants.”
Across all funded events in the Thermal Explorer region, the average out-of-region visitor stayed for 1.9 nights and spent an average of $322 per day, in addition to spending generated by local attendees.
“One of the purposes of the fund was to stimulate domestic visitation so it’s a real testament to its success that around half of the people who attended the events it funded came from out of the region,” Nicola says.
Among the funded events was the Sika Show – Australasia’s largest hunting and outdoor trade show, attracting more than 10,000 people to Mystery Creek near Hamilton.
Sika Show organiser Mike Penn says the funding helped the Sika Show bounce back after COVID-19, primarily by supporting marketing and awareness raising efforts outside the Waikato.
“Without that I don’t know if we would have survived; my wife Natalie and I had just taken on the event as a mum and dad team along with John and Jacki Cook a year earlier and then had to cancel both the 2020 and 2021 shows and reschedule the 2022 event because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Taupō Trail Festival organiser Aaron Carter told a similar story, saying the funding was key to enabling the family-friendly event to get started during a particularly challenging period.
“Without that funding, we wouldn’t have done the event,” he says.
On its debut in 2024, the Taupō Trail Festival attracted around 2000 people, with 82 per cent coming from outside the Thermal Explorer Region. It brought around $500,000 in spending to the Taupō region that year, was held again in March 2025, and will return again in 2026.
Other popular funded events included the Middle-earth Half Marathon in Hobbiton, the ITM Taupō Super400 motorsport event in Taupō, New Zealand Blues and BBQ Festival in Rotorua and the Ohakune Blues and Roots Festival.
Nicola says in addition to directly supporting events, the fund also enabled creation of resources for event organisers, as well as a multi-year capability building workshop series attended by hundreds of people in event management to up-skill the local event industry.
“Not only has the funding brought some entirely new events to our communities generated significant economic impact for the Thermal Explorer region, but it has also helped build local capability, creating a legacy that will last for decades.”
The Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund was managed collectively through the Event Investment Panel, which is made up of eight representatives from Hamilton & Waikato Tourism, Destination Great Lake Taupō, RotoruaNZ and Visit Ruapehu.
It was part of the $50 million Regional Events Fund, set up in 2020 and overseen by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.
