Superyachts plot Cup course
Yvonne Townsend said the America’s Cup would be an important money-earner for Auckland.
“We’ve got such a fantastic harbour, it’s great to be able to showcase it to the rest of the world.”
But she agreed with Goff that pouring too much money into new bases for the event was unnecessary. Alex Vallings says staging the famous race at one waterfront area may not be achievable. A superyacht support service has had inquiries from owners of three vessels larger than 100m for berths in Auckland during the America’s Cup, which a tourist group says “could put cream on the top of summer”.
AsiaPacific Superyachts managing director Duthie Lidgard said the Cup in 2021 would be a big opportunity for Auckland.
Superyachts come here for maintenance and their owners and crew spend millions of dollars on luxury tourism experiences.
Adding more berths for 30m-plus superyachts would help.
“With current berthing arrangements we would have to look at turning them away from coming to our docks.”
Lidgard said the Marine Precinct was already struggling with day-today operations.
Boat yards were close to maxi-
With current berthing arrangements we would have to look at turning them away.
mum capacity for refits but Lidgard said Kiwis always found a way to fit more work in and the global exposure could inject life into the superyacht construction businesses.
“It would be a massive coup for New Zealand as a whole and possibly the exposure required for boat building operations to re-open.”
Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts said that after reading the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment report, he concluded the immediate impact would be useful but not massive for the overall tourist industry.
“There are other events that attract more tourists but they are likely to be high spending tourists and could add in the region of an additional $50 million,” he said. “It’s useful but in the context of a $14.5 billion spend annually, it’s a nice bonus.”
Roberts said the biggest impact would be in global exposure, raising Auckland’s profile and highlighting the city’s ability to host big events.
He said if the event was held during the summer peak there was a risk that there would be pressure on accommodation and facilities and displace other visitors.
Tourism New Zealand has a big pitch at the luxury end of the market and says it is already detecting interest among the very wealthy in coming here for the Cup.
The organisation’s chief executive, Stephen England-Hall, said while it was early days it could represent a sizeable opportunity. “In particular it’s likely to be of interest to premium travellers and New Zealand has a world-class luxury tourism offering.”
Duthie Lidgard, AsiaPacific Superyachts managing director