Visitors to Regina’s Western Canada Farm Progress Show in June spent a lot of money, according to data collected at the 2010 show.
A survey of 1,067 people found that, as a result of the show, buyers spent between $185 million and $380 million on items worth more than $5,000, including tractors, combines and other equipment.
“$135 million of that, at the time of the study, was coming from international buyers,” said show manager Rob O’Connor.
The data have led show organizers to consider how to best reach out to international customers and bring more buyers to Regina.
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China will be one of the targets.
O’Connor noted that both Agco and New Holland are manufacturing in China. He said the show will likely join with organizations already in the country to cultivate that market.
Relationships are a key part of business dealings with Chinese companies. As well, O’Connor said the farm progress show must offer what Chinese buyers want.
“We have to get some of the exhibitor levels up to the standard that international buyers are used to,” he said. “We need to offer what they’re used to. We want to make sure they choose this place to do their buying.”
The new facilities at Evraz Place will help accomplish that, he added.
The study, conducted by the Southwest Tourism Region and the ministry of tourism, parks, culture and sport, also found the show attracted more than 19,700 people from outside Regina and surrounding area, and more than 11,700 from the city itself.
That doesn’t fit with the show attendance total of 45,827 because it doesn’t include international visitors, people coming only to evening concerts and others, O’Connor said.
But the 30,000 are the most significant because they are the ones doing the buying. And of those, the study suggests 3,400 did most of the spending.
“The few who are the largest do the most buying,” he said.
That is similar to the generally accepted idea that 80 percent of farmgate receipts are generated by 20 percent of western Canadian farmers, he said.
“We understand that now and can create some additional programming for the highest spending customer,” O’Connor said.
This year saw sales completed during the three-day show climb to $100 million, most of that from American buyers. That compares to $12 million last year.
“Australia is looking awesome,” O’Connor said. “It was our second largest international customer this year.”
In 2009, Kazakhstan and Russia were the top two buyers.
The 2010 Saskatchewan Festivals and Events Research Project also found the economic impact of tourism spending during the show was another $3.56 million.
The study asked questions about how long people stayed in the city, where they stayed, where they were from and how much they spent.
Among the other findings, 97 percent of survey participants said they would strongly recommend the event to others and more than 90 percent agreed the facilities and activities were excellent.
