Hamilton Gardens: Entry fees bear fruit

Saturday, 15 November 2025

Hamilton Gardens has sprouted a money tree.

A year after the controversial introduction of paid entry at Hamilton Gardens, the ticket revenue – more than $3 million – has come in more than double what was expected.

The $20 entry fee for non-locals was introduced by Hamilton City Council last September in a bid to help offset council spending.

The result is a significant overshoot on earlier projections of a possible $1.4 million cash boost and can now cover about half the attraction’s running costs.

Hamilton Gardens director Lucy Ryan said the last year had gone “really well”.

“Our locals still get to come for free, and our international and our domestic visitors don't seem to be worrying about paying, they're still coming in their droves.”

The total revenue generated from paid admissions between September 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025 was $3,164,555.

This was a monthly average of nearly a quarter of a million.

The Gardens’ operational and maintenance costs were “around $6 million per year” including both the enclosed gardens and the regular gardens that remained free for all.

Ryan said changes made in the last year included the new visitor centre, as well as more security measures.

The next addition was the medieval garden, set to open next February.

Based on monastery apothecary gardens from 13th century Italy, it was going to be “amazing”, she said.

It would be the 19th enclosed garden to open, and each one took two or three years to develop.

Eventually there would be a total of 30 themed gardens.

“We're not a botanical garden, we're like a living museum of gardens, so it tells the story of the history of humanity and key changes in civilization.”

All the different gardens had their moments at different times of the year, but she personally found the Japanese garden always brought a sense of calm and zen.

Visitor levels were about as expected, and they were gearing up for the busy season.

The enclosed gardens were visited 298,672 times in the first year of the new entry scheme.

Numbers peaked in the summer, with 43,905 visitors in January, and dipped in winter, with a low of 15,863 visitors in August.

Locals accounted for 29% of the visits, while 46% were tourists from elsewhere in New Zealand, and the rest were international visitors.

For those who lived or paid rates in Hamilton, about 42,000 residence passes had been issued so far.

Annual passes for others were also available for $50.

All admissions revenue went back into supporting the gardens, and new projects were fundraised for externally, she said.

Feedback to the paid entry model was generally positive, with one exception — those who lived nearby but not within zone.

“Probably the people that have been most impacted are our neighbours, and I have some empathy for them because previously they were able to come”

However many of them had bought annual passes, she said.

The decision to introduce paid admission for out-of-towners was made in June 2023.

It was a key part of the 2023/2024 annual plan, which received 1841 submissions.

Many were from residents of neighbouring Waikato and Waipa districts, who argued they too should be granted a discount.

However councillors decided that ultimately they were free-riding and would miss out.

Of the 14 councillors present, 11 voted for the motion and Kesh Naidoo-Rauf, Geoff Taylor and Emma Pike voted against.

Revenue projections by council staff for the adopted option indicated some $1.4 million of additional revenue could be created by the decision.

At the time, Taylor said the charge would recoup $200,000 on operational expenditure from a total spend of $340m.

'Let's not gamble the city's biggest asset on chump change,' he said then.

However, Taylor told the Waikato Times this week he was happy to be proved wrong.

“There were absolutely risks but the transition was managed really well,” he said.

Visitors at the enclosed gardens who spoke to the Waikato Times this week were upbeat about the attraction.

Rashea and Jordan Drake were visiting from Utah in the United States.

Rashea said it was not what she expected — it was better.

It was easily worth the admission cost due to the large range of different themes, she said.

“We don’t have these kinds of gardens at home, it’s mostly just grass,” she said.

Michelle Arnold was visiting the gardens from Auckland, along with three friends visiting from the United Kingdom.

The group were all enthusiastic about the experience.

Arnold decided they should go because she had been meaning to visit ever since a relative told her the gardens were “the best in the world”, and she also thought it was worth the price.