SkyCity fire a blow to convention sector
The tourism industry is nervously waiting to see how badly it will be hit by further expected delays in opening the SkyCity Convention Centre.
Tourism NZ estimates close to
77,000 international visitors attend business events each year and the new Auckland facility was to be key to winning more large international meetings.
Able to handle events for up to
4000 people, it was a big step up for the conference sector and Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett said any delay would have longterm implications for the region’s ability to compete, and for tourism in other areas of the country.
‘‘The size of the prize is huge when you look at events like Apec and one or two others, just from bookings SkyCity had around Apec, you are talking tens of millions of dollars.’’
Nationally, delegates attending multi-day conferences spent $455 million here last year, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
In 2017, when the SkyCity Convention Centre confirmed its first bookings, then minister for economic development Simon Bridges said it was projected to inject $90m into Auckland’s economy annually, and it is unclear how much that might change in the wake of the fire.
Two large medical conferences worth $11m were among six scheduled for next year but construction delays had already bumped a number to other Auckland venues such as the Aotea Centre. Last month SkyCity Convention Centre director of sales Prue Daly told the Tourism Ticker website four events had been relocated within Auckland, while two had been lost to China and Singapore.
SkyCity told the NZX yesterday morning it expected there would be a ‘‘further material delay’’ to the completion dates for the convention centre and adjoining Horizon Hotel.
Chief executive of Conventions and Incentives NZ (Cinz) Sue Sullivan said $163m of the conference spend came from international delegates who spent on average $2626 each.
But the true financial impact was much higher because that figure did not include spending by partners accompanying conference-goers. Overseas delegates stayed 2.5 nights on average outside the region where a conference was held, and add-on events such as field trips also contributed to the overall spend.
In an interview published on the SkyCity website, Daly described the lengthy bidding process for international business as like a ‘‘mini Olympic bid’’ as her team of 12 went up against other global destinations.
Tourism NZ has assisted in 63 successful bids for international conferences with an
estimated value of $75m to be held throughout the country over the next two years.
Christchurch’s new Te Pae convention centre is due to open next October and general manager Ross Steele said it was too early to say whether his venue could take over any events SkyCity’s NZ International Convention Centre (NZICC) could not handle as a result of its delayed opening. ‘‘It is really, really important that New Zealand looks to try to retain these international events that it worked very hard to get, and it is an absolute disappointment that NZICC has to go through this.’’
The worry for the tourism industry is that New Zealand’s image as a conference destination will be damaged by images of the blazing SkyCity building and there is plenty of competition across the Tasman with revamped convention centres in Sydney and Melbourne. Sullivan said bids for international conferences was a ‘‘long game’’ and started years in advance.
The International Congress and Convention Association publishes a top 20 list of destinations for meetings of international associations. Last year Australia came in at 13 with 265 meetings but New Zealand did not make the cut at all.