21 December 2005

WOW a winner for Wellington

The 2005 Montana World of WearableArt™ Awards brought in $8.3 million of new spending to Wellington City, an economic impact assessment shows.

The show, staged at the Events Centre between 23 September and 2 October, was attended by 27,000 people.

The McDermott Miller report, commissioned by Wellington City Council, shows that attendees spent up large with retail accounting for 36 percent of new spending. This was followed by accommodation (24 percent), restaurants and cafes (24 percent), business services (11 percent), transport (4 percent) and other attractions (1 percent).

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast is delighted with the results.

“There is no doubt in our mind that the Montana World of WearableArt Awards is a perfect fit with Wellington and the report reinforces that. The fact that so many people got to see it for the first time is fantastic. It was a visual feast and we look forward to it continuing. It’s fantastic for Wellington.”

Kirkcaldie and Stains Acting Managing Director Nicholas Bartle says during the seven days of WOW, there was a noticeable lift in sales at the department store.

“It was a busy time for us. It appears that people who came from out of Wellington to attend WOW were also willing to go shopping,” Mr Bartle says. “We are looking forward to next year.”

WOW Chief Executive Gabrielle Hervey says she is delighted by the report’s findings which highlight the success of moving the event to Wellington City.

“We took WOW to Wellington to grow this show creatively and be able to perform to larger audiences. This report shows that not only did our audience love the experience, they plan on returning to Wellington to experience it again,” Ms Hervey says.

Other findings include:

- 64 percent of attendees went to WOW for the first time
- 78 percent of attendees were very likely or likely to attend WOW next year
- 64 percent of attendees came from outside Wellington City with Auckland (20 percent) and Canterbury (19 percent) the largest domestic markets
- 79 percent attended as part of a family group, with friends or a mixture of both.

ENDS

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