Southland
A positive few months has seen Classic Motorcycle Mecca welcome over 10,000 visitors through its doors since opening in late November 2016.
Transport World Director Joc O’Donnell says “It’s going well, the Burt Munro Challenge was a huge week for us. Since then on average we receive around 450 – 750 visitors a week. Due to the time of year it has meant that around 50% of these visitors are international, 30% domestic and 20% local. Visitor numbers through Bill Richardson Transport World have also grown and remain strong”.
A new Transport World “Turbo Pass” has also been created which encourages guests to visit both attractions. Overall the response has been great with over half of all guests choosing to use it. Classic Motorcycle Mecca’s new café Meccaspresso was also proving popular with visitors and locals alike.
Visitor feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and a really encouraging sign was that Classic Motorcycle Mecca was generating increased foot traffic within Invercargill’s CBD. Joc says “We deliberately put Classic Motorcycle Mecca into the CBD (in a different location to Bill Richardson Transport World) to create more foot traffic, with the aim of providing a spin-off effect to help other businesses in the area”.
“Anecdotally I’m hearing that local shops have been busier in general since we opened. When H&J Smith moved out of the building it reduced foot traffic on the street. Now there is a natural route from the building to the arcade which leads into the CBD so the museum has created that connection again.”
Classic Motorcycle Mecca is home to around 300 motorcycles and motorcycle focussed artwork. The collection ranges from a 1902 Peugeot motorcycle to a 21st Century Simms Corbin Custom and includes brands such as AJS, Ariel, BMW, Brough Superior, Harley Davidson, Henderson and Indian as well as little known brands such as Schwinn and Zundapp. The collection also houses three out of four publically displayed John Britten bikes.
The establishment of Classic Motorcycle Mecca followed on roughly one year from the opening of the successful Bill Richardson Transport World.