Promoted as the “best of Martinborough,” a month-long Pour & Explore programme is being developed by local business as it revives the idea of a winter festival to lift visitor numbers and fill many normally-empty August accommodation beds.
“This (Pour & Explore) experience will showcase the best of Martinborough’s wine, olive oil, cuisine, art, dark skies, live 80s music and local spirit, (and is) designed to bring warmth, flavour, and vibrancy to the Winter season,” the promoters announced recently.
The month-long programme will begin with a grand opening weekend at the start of August, aiming to make Martinborough a “must-visit winter destination,” – in other words an improved version of the Winter Harvest Festival which local olive growers mounted over two years pre-Covid.
Some 30-plus local business reps attended a strategy unveiling early last month.
There, Martinborough Business Association president Allan Hogg noted domestic visitor spending was down 12%, “which largely reflects economic conditions generally,” though international visitors’ were spending 7% more and visitor nights had risen. The key Wellington market has tanked over the recent period.
“There are enough signs out there that things are going to improve, but we … will have to exploit it,” he said – which was the rationale driving the “winter initiative.”
Organising lead, Becks Clarke, told the group the “grand plan” was a small start in August, while in later years “we would like to move to July and September as well.”
The plan is to develop what was described as “a transformative journey” to establish Martinborough
“as a must-visit winter destination,” though without the snow – or even fake snow (aka Greytown).
Marketing outreach will include the Wairarapa, Wellington, Manawatu, Hawkes Bay, Auckland and much wider afield.
It is targeting locals and tourists, involving website, event marketers, newsletters, media, Destination Wairarapa channels and outreach through Wellington Airport’s 100,000+ subscriber list.
An artisan producers’ market is planned as part of the grand opening weekend from August 9, and continues with events and activities throughout the month.
One speaker noted that the philosophy backing the project was “how do we keep businesses afloat and then growing…. This is about boosting business for everybody … and trying to encourage growth in the area.”
