Case Study:
CheeseFest

CheeseFest was inspired by the global travels of Festival Director and Cheese Maker Kris Lloyd AM, who wanted to celebrate the quality and diversity of the South Australian artisan cheese industry. Since then, it has grown into the biggest outdoor cheese festival in Australia. Although cheese is the focal point of the festival, it also attracts winemakers, brewers, food producers, restauranteurs, and fermenters from all over Australia.

IER partnered with CheeseFest for the first time in 2024 to understand the attitudes and behaviours of attendees engaging with the event as well as assessing the tourism contribution to the greater Adelaide economy. A strong focus was also placed on understanding the key drivers to satisfaction in order to develop management action in order to drive future visitation to the festival.

With nearly 10,000 individual attendees over the two-day event, CheeseFest contributed an economic impact of over $1.3 million, resulting in 3,364 visitor nights. In addition to the festival, it’s estimated that more than 2,800 people visited local bars, while nearly 2,100 dined at restaurants in the city, providing a further boost to the local economy.