South Africans to be RWC big spenders, Aussies the cheapest

South Africans tipped as big spenders at RWC, Aussies the cheapest: RBNZ

By Paul McBeth

Aug. 18 (BusinessDesk) – About 14,000 visitors from Africa are expected to be the biggest spenders at the Rugby World Cup when it kicks off next month, while our nearest neighbours will be the cheapest.

The Reserve Bank estimates African visitors, who will largely be South African, will spend an average $8,300 each during the tournament, while 33,000 Australians and others from the Asia-Pacific region will spend about $6,050 a head over the course of the event, according to a note by economist Adam Richardson.

Europeans, mostly Brits and French, will probably spend $8,100 each, making them the second most valuable tourist, while those from the Americas may spend $6,900 each.

The tournament is still expected to swell New Zealand’s coffers by $700 million, a figure first mooted by Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard in January. Half of that is tipped to come from the Europeans, followed by $200 million from Asia Pacific, $120 million from Africans, and $30 million from Americans.

Last week, Rugby World Cup 2011 Ltd. chief executive Martin Snedden raised the predicted number of visitors by 10,000 to 95,000, with strong sales across the Tasman underpinning that optimism.

Snedden and RWC Minister Murray McCully are targeting Australian visitors, who they see as having “upside” available.

The tournament is forecast to make bottom-line loss of some $39 million, though that could get whittled down ticket sales beat RWC 2011’s target.

The event organiser has sold $234 million of tickets, and aims to make $268 million. That equates to roughly 1.3 million to 1.35 million tickets of the approximate 1.55 million tickets available.

(BusinessDesk)

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