And somewhat surprisingly it shows on paper that the precinct outshines the town’s blue penguin colony 2:1 in terms of visitors.
The Benje Patterson-written report was commissioned by the Waitaki District Council at the request of the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust last year.
It was delivered to councillors on Christmas Eve, Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher confirmed yesterday.
The report described the town’s Victorian Precinct as the key sightseeing drawcard "within the Oamaru visitor experience" while also being "a significant" recreational and shopping destination for local residents.
The trust — which owns the core of the Victorian Heritage Precinct — has previously sought to provide its own independent economic analysis of the area.
Chairman Richard Vinbrux said if anything it was "surprised" that it had needed the new district council-sponsored report to show the precinct’s significance but he was "quite happy" with the result.
"While it’s good to see our numbers are about twice what the penguin colony attracts, I knew we would be doing far better ... I didn’t expect it to be such a contrast," Mr Vinbrux said.
"I’d be quite happy it become common knowledge how much we actually contribute — with very little help from ratepayers — because there is this misperception the trust costs ratepayers money.
"But it brings money into Oamaru. We are getting very little help from ratepayers or council."
The trust owns a cluster of 16 buildings within Harbour and Tyne Sts.
Mr Vinbrux said the trust had previously been asked to justify its true value.
"The attitude of the past from council has always been, what do you want from us. What is your contribution? This has now been proven.
"It shouldn’t have needed a report but we’re pleased to see the numbers."
In November, Heritage New Zealand accepted a bid for it to become officially recognised as a National Historic Landmark — second after the Treaty of Waitangi grounds.
The Benje Patterson report outlines 10 key findings.
It notes the precinct as core to iconic events now associated with Oamaru like the Victorian Heritage celebrations, Steampunk NZ festival, and the Harbour Street Jazz and Blues Festival.
Benje Patterson suggests heritage and arts tourism is the biggest visitor attractor to Oamaru and more generally in Waitaki.
That sector accounted for 138,000 visitor nights in 2023 — "twice the visitation" received by Oamaru Blue Penguin colony (67,706 visitors).
The Alps to Ocean cycle trail had 85,903 riders in 2023, of whom 65,000 ended their journey in Oamaru.
"On top of the $4.3m spent directly by visitors in the heritage precinct, another $7.4m was indirectly spent by overnight heritage and arts visitors in other parts of Oamaru during 2023," the report said.
It also notes about $3m of local resident spending within the precinct in 2023 — the equivalent of over $200 per each of Oamaru’s 14,350 residents.
Mr Vinbrux said he understood a second report commissioned by the council alone would focus on the "commercial viability" of the precinct.
"I personally will be very curious to see the outcome of that," he said.
Mr Kircher said he was very pleased with the precinct report and had personally backed the trust on it.
"We know it’s valuable but it was trying to quantify it ... it does stack up with what our expectations were — and in some cases exceeds our expectations."
Mr Kircher said he believed the next part, commissioned by council alone, was to support the trust’s future "commercial viability".
