Aucklanders keen to show waterfront to the world

Aucklanders keen to show waterfront to the world

Aucklanders want our waterfront to be the centrepiece of the city’s Rugby World Cup 2011 celebrations, a survey of nearly 800 residents shows.

The survey asking Aucklanders how they wanted to celebrate this once in a lifetime event showed strong support for live screenings of matches (81%) and cultural events (62%) with the location of choice being the city’s waterfront.

Nearly half the respondents (42%) said the CBD/waterfront was their preferred location for RWC 2011 events, while just over a third of people would like to see celebrations in a major park in their area.

Another popular activity was supporting visiting teams and meeting the players.

“Allowing visiting teams to visit our local grass-roots clubs and to inspire the children they meet. RWC 2011 is an opportunity for us to show the rest of the world our passion for all sports,” says one resident.

The outcomes of the survey show strong support for fan zones where matches are screened live in a festival setting, and the adopt-a-second-team initiative encouraging Kiwis to get in behind teams as well as the All Blacks.

Fan zones, adopt-a-second-team programmes and incorporating existing cultural events eg Diwali, into the RWC 2011 celebrations will all form part of Auckland’s extensive festival programme.

One survey respondent said they wanted to see large concerts showcasing New Zealand popular music and culture.

“It’s a chance to show others what we can do,” they responded.

Auckland’s RWC 2011 spokesperson Michael Barnett says it’s encouraging to see Aucklanders so passionate about RWC 2011.

“There’s been no shortage of good ideas about how people would like to celebrate, and a huge number of respondents were keen to be involved as volunteers or get further updates about the event.”

Auckland’s RWC 2011 planning team has been out at a range of summer events eg Pasifika, Christmas in the Park and Heineken Open tennis encouraging Aucklanders to get involved.

Barnett says there are numerous opportunities for Aucklanders to be part of this world-class event.

“You can become a volunteer, dress your street in the colours of one of the visiting teams or simply watch a game at a fan zone. It’s much more than just 48 games of Rugby.”

As well as engaging with the community, Auckland has an extensive RWC 2011 business engagement programme.

One of the key parts of the programme, a business speaker series, kicks off next week with RWC-winning captain David Kirk as the guest speaker. The series, aimed at informing businesses of the opportunities RWC 2011 presents, involves six events that run through until the end of September. For more information on the series visit www.auckland2011.com/business

There will also be a RWC 2011 presence at the Bizzone expo from 2-4 June at the ASB Showgrounds which will reach small to medium-sized businesses.

In February and March a series of visitor ready workshops were run to help tourism operators plan for the event. More than 500 people attended six different workshops on subjects as varied as sustainability and media opportunities.

ENDS

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