The All Blacks Perform the Haka
Jo Caird/AFP/Getty Images
The New Zealand All-Blacks perform the “haka” during their Tri-Nations match against South Africa in Wellington on July 30.
The New Zealand All-Blacks perform the “haka” during their Tri-Nations match against South Africa in Wellington on July 30. Photographer: Jo Caird/AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) — New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully talks about the economic opportunities from hosting the tournament, which starts next month.
New Zealand, a country with more land mass than the U.K. and one-fourteenth its population, is hosting rugby’s most prestigious event a year after the first in a series of quakes struck Christchurch, leaving the second-biggest city with a NZ$20 billion ($16.6 billion) repair bill. McCully spoke yesterday with Bloomberg’s Chris Bourke in Wellington. (Source: Bloomberg)
Record Kiwi Stretches Rugby Fans Bound For Bungee Birthplace
Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images
A bungee jumper free falls against the back drop of Auckland, photographed from the Sky Tower in Auckland, as the country gears up for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
A bungee jumper free falls against the back drop of Auckland, photographed from the Sky Tower in Auckland, as the country gears up for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Photographer: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images
Air NZ will offer cheaper prices outside of game days
Jack Atley/Bloomberg
Air New Zealand Ltd., the nation’s largest carrier, will offer cheaper prices outside of game days to cater to tourists who may want to see more of the country.
Air New Zealand Ltd., the nation’s largest carrier, will offer cheaper prices outside of game days to cater to tourists who may want to see more of the country. Photographer: Jack Atley/Bloomberg
The Damaged AMI Stadium in Queenstown
Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images
Water pours from a broken water main under the cracked road leading to the AMI Stadium, one of the 2011 Rugby World Cup venues, after a 6.3 earthquake devastated Christchurch.
Water pours from a broken water main under the cracked road leading to the AMI Stadium, one of the 2011 Rugby World Cup venues, after a 6.3 earthquake devastated Christchurch. Photographer: Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images
Irish supporters in Queenstown
Teaukura Moetaua/Getty Images
Irish supporters pose as the Irish Rugby World Cup 2011 team arrive in Queenstown. Purchases by the 95,000 foreign fans the government expects to attend the six-week event starting Sept. 9 matter to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand because tourism is the South Pacific nation’s second-biggest industry after dairy in terms of foreign earnings, accounting for 9 percent of gross domestic product.
Irish supporters pose as the Irish Rugby World Cup 2011 team arrive in Queenstown. Purchases by the 95,000 foreign fans the government expects to attend the six-week event starting Sept. 9 matter to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand because tourism is the South Pacific nation’s second-biggest industry after dairy in terms of foreign earnings, accounting for 9 percent of gross domestic product. Photographer: Teaukura Moetaua/Getty Images
Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown
Mark Coote/Bloomberg
The TSS Earnslaw, a 1912 Edwardian vintage twin screw steamer, returns from a cruise of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown.
The TSS Earnslaw, a 1912 Edwardian vintage twin screw steamer, returns from a cruise of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown. Photographer: Mark Coote/Bloomberg
New Jersey resident Chris Walsh is
making a 20-hour trek to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand this
month. With the kiwi dollar near a record, he’s had to leave
some friends behind.
“There are a handful of people who haven’t been able to
swing it,” said Walsh, a 52-year-old software consultant who’s
never ventured south of the equator. His group’s 12-day trip is
about half the average stay predicted last year by tournament
organizers.
New Zealand’s soaring currency is hampering efforts to
revive an industry still reeling from the 2009 global recession
and the deadliest earthquake in eight decades. Beyond the rugby
arenas are snow-capped mountains, glaciers and fiords — the
backdrop to the “Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy and the
birthplace of bungee jumping — that the tourism officials want
fans to experience to help bolster future visits and spending.
The kiwi “at these elevated levels does have the effect of
making New Zealand less attractive than some other potential
destinations,” Rob Fyfe, chief executive officer of Air New
Zealand Ltd. (AIR), the nation’s largest carrier, said Aug. 25, after
announcing full-year profit slumped 45 percent because of
currency, fuel and quake costs.
‘World Stage’
The airline, which has painted an Airbus A320 domestic
jetliner to match the colors of the host nation’s All Blacks
team, will offer cheaper prices outside of game days to cater to
tourists who may want to see more of the country. “We’ve never
had a better chance to showcase our country on the world stage
in recent times,” Fyfe said in an interview.
Spending by international visitors has fallen 10 percent to
NZ$5.56 billion ($4.7 billion) in the year ended June 30 from a
record NZ$6.18 billion three years earlier, according to
government figures.
Purchases by the 95,000 foreign fans the government expects
to attend the six-week event starting Sept. 9 also matter to the
Reserve Bank of New Zealand because tourism is the South Pacific
nation’s second-biggest industry after dairy in terms of foreign
earnings, accounting for 9 percent of gross domestic product.
The central bank predicts a boost totaling NZ$700 million
to the $127 billion economy, while cautioning that the
currency’s 19 percent gain in the past year may reduce the
longer-term economic benefit.
Long-Term Effects
“The international attention on New Zealand as a result of
the tournament may boost tourism demand and visitor numbers
longer term,” the central bank said in a research paper last
month. “However, international experience suggests such effects
can be limited, perhaps especially in a period when the exchange
rate is relatively high.”
New Zealand’s dollar rose as high as 88.43 U.S. cents on
Aug. 1, the highest since exchange-rate controls were lifted in
1985. It bought 84.04 cents at 8:17 a.m. in London today, and
has gained 18 percent against the South African rand, 15 percent
on the British pound and 13 percent versus the euro in the past
six months.
About a third of the visiting fans are expected from
Australia, with 25,000 from the U.K. and Ireland, and 10,000
from France, organizers said.
Faced with a soaring kiwi, Walsh and his friends from a
rugby club in Morris County, New Jersey, found their initial
estimate of $4,000 for travel and lodgings had to be raised to
$4,500. They plan skiing and bungee jumping in a visit to the
South Island’s Queenstown, a resort town whose scenic mountains
were used as a backdrop in director Peter Jackson’s Academy
Award-winning “Rings” movies.
Bungee Birthplace
The first commercial bungee operation began near Queenstown
in 1988, offering customers the chance to jump off a 43-meter-
high (141-foot) bridge attached by only a strong rubber cord.
Walsh will attend a game in Wellington. His plans to see a
second match were scrapped because a Feb. 22 earthquake in
Christchurch badly damaged the South Island city’s stadium,
forcing games to be relocated. The temblor killed more than 180
people, wrecked many heritage buildings and prompted tourists to
stay away.
“We’ve obviously had a really torrid year this year with
earthquakes and natural disasters,” Kevin Bowler, chief
executive of Tourism New Zealand, a government agency
responsible for promoting the country, said in an interview.
Restaurant owners such as Steve Logan, of Logan Brown in
Wellington, are optimistic that bookings will pick up as fans
and sponsors arrive once the tournament begins.
Late Lunches
The restaurant, where a nine-course degustation menu plus
wine costs NZ$240 a person, will start a Saturday lunch service
and a “long, late lunch” that can extend up to the start of
early evening games, he said. Logan said he’ll offer specials
such as lobster tails and aged steaks — “sort of blokes’
food” to fit the expected clientele.
A survey of ticket buyers last year suggested fans planned
to travel around the country and that 44 percent of them will be
visiting New Zealand for the first time.
“Getting people to understand why they should keep coming
back is what it’s all about,” Murray McCully, the Rugby World
Cup Minister, said in an interview in Wellington. “The real
benefit comes from putting ourselves on the map.”
To contact the reporter on this story:
Tracy Withers in Wellington at
twithers@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net
