Wednesday 8th May, 2024 By Mark Knoff-Thomas

As Auckland Council considers feedback and finalises the long-term plan for the state of Auckland, I sincerely hope they commit to continuing to facilitate major events. And preferably an increase in funding to Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, for this purpose, and a full review of the resource consent for venues like Eden Park. This would go a long way to bringing more large-scale events to the city.

Major events like international sporting events, conferences and concerts are a fantastic way to attract domestic tourists, support Kiwi business and stimulate the local economy.

The upside of major events cannot be understated as proven with P!NK’s sold out shows at Eden Park in March. Over 100,000 people attended her shows and were welcomed with open arms by our local businesses. There was a significant uplift for accommodation and transport providers, retailers, bars and restaurants across the city. In Newmarket alone we saw an increase of over a $1 million in spend across the weekend of the concerts compared to comparable weekends. Retailers reported foot traffic was up between 5 - 28% too, providing local businesses with a much-needed uplift.

More than any other city in NZ Auckland has had a rough ride over the last few years. Our businesses faced significant Covid restrictions and were then hit by the Anniversary floods and cyclone, only to be hammered, like everyone else, with the economic pressures of inflation and the increased cost of goods and services. Heavily leveraged Aucklanders have been riding the cost of living crisis wave with many facing interest rate hikes and ballooning mortgage repayments. Priorities have shifted putting increased pressure on households and forcing them to limit discretionary spend.

Amidst the doom and gloom, it was exciting to see the city - and Newmarket in particular, busy and thriving with the flow of domestic tourists from all over New Zealand, and overseas, shopping, dining and enjoying what this spectacular city has to offer.

It’s maddening to think of the opportunity cost to Auckland of missing out on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Swift could undoubtedly have sold out multiple nights at Eden Park, bringing in hundreds of thousands of fans and boosting the local economy by up to $70 million dollars.

It would be myopic of the council not to review the resource consent for Eden Park and I (as I’m sure many others) would fully support loosening the resource consent restrictions and allowing Eden Park to host more artists and concerts, and over more nights each year.

If the council is looking for a model to follow they need simply glance across the ditch - Melbourne is the poster child. Like Auckland, the city’s businesses faced significant covid restrictions, but thanks largely to a focus on events Melbourne bounced back fast. In the second half of 2022, major events including some of the greatest sporting, cultural and music events delivered an almost AUD$1 billion to Victoria’s economy.

Taylor Swift’s Eras tour boosted the city’s economy by around AUD$174 million, helped along by thousands of Kiwi tourists travelling across the ditch to get their Taylor Swift fix. 

Auckland Council has a single-minded focus on “Auckland Inc” and with that comes the responsibility to promote the city and provide economic opportunities for our local businesses. Period.

As the council’s governing body makes the final decisions on the long-term plan, Auckland businesses need those decisions to include support for large scale events. We all want to see our streets across the region bustling once again with domestic and international visitors – full cafes, bars and restaurants and retail stores, pumping millions into the Auckland economy.

ENDS